Vessantara-Jataka in Pali and English - MyWebSpace

Translation 483 Vessantara-Jåtaka
[Fausbøll, Jåtaka, vol. VI, p. 483]
Still, Sakka, may my breasts be firm, nor white-haired may I be; 1
My body all unblemished, may I set the death-doomed free. 2
Mid herons' cries, and peacocks' calls, with waiting women fair,
Poets and bards to sing our praise, shawls waving in the air, 3
When rattling on the painted door the menial calls aloud,
"God bless King Sivi! come to meat!" be I his queen avowed."
Sakka said:
"Know that these boons, my lady bright, which I have granted thee,
In Sivi kingdom, beauteous one, all ten fulfilled shall be."
1 Reading n’assan tu for nassantu. Cf. the Burmese version, p. 7: "grant that my hair may
not whiten."
2 I.e. may I be fair enough to keep my influence over the king.
3 The compound khujjatecalākkhakākiṇṇe I cannot understand. It may contain khujja
"humpback" and ceṭaka "slave"; but the second part may possibly represent some such
word as celaṁ "cloth," or even celukkhepa "waving of cloths in token of joy." The next
compound I translate as though it were sūtamāgadha°, as Fausbøll suggests in his note.
Citraggalerughusite seems to contain aggala "a peg" and ugghosita "sounded," in some
form; the scholiast uses the word "door."