THE HARMONY OF VIRTUE

V. 9. Skeleton Notes on the Kumarasambhavam311mnIizta" (manÈØitÀÕ): formed from mnIza (manÈØÀ), desire (mn"(manaÕ) + ¡z (ÈØa) + Aa (À)) by the application of the passive suffixšt (ita) = desired, A.IZ$a" (abhÈØÒÀÕ), Ai.lizta" (abhilaØitÀÕ). I donot understand on what principle of grammar the Avachuri followedby Deshpande takes this form as mno_i.lazda}y" (mano'bhilÀØadÀtryaÕ)“desired” taking the sense of “able” or “thought able to fulfil desire”.This is but one more instance of the blamable slovenliness of thiscommentary. Adopting this untenable rendering these commentatorsfurther suppose that the gods in the house are to be worshipped byParvati for the purpose of gaining Siva as her husband, but it is difficultto see how other gods could give her the Supreme, and in any casemnIizta (manÈØitÀ) can only mean “desired” which renders this versionimpossible. But desired by whom? If by Parvati, we must supposeMena to imagine her daughter aiming simply at making a good matchin the celestial world. The sense will then be “Thou desirest a God inmarriage; well, there are gods in our home whom thou canst win byeasy adoration, while Siva must be wooed by harsh asceticism in thewoods.” Or it may signify “desired generally, desired by others”, whenit will have the force of desirable. I prefer therefore this latter interpretation.This is supported by the later šy' mheNdp[.*tIni/è[yXctuidRgIxanvmNymainnI (iyaÌ mahendraprabhÐtÈnadhiÙrayaÙcaturdigÈÙÀnavamanyamÀninÈ) and Siva Purana.g*hezu (gÐheØu): The plural may here be used in the sense of a greatmansion. The old Aryan house seems to have many storeys, each storeyconsisting of several flats, and in the palaces of princes and greatnobles it was composed of several wings and even several piles ofbuildings. The female apartments specially formed a piece apart. Cf.the Siva Purana where Mena saysk¦] yais tp" kt|u deva" siNt g*he mm -tIqaRin c ivic]ai, siNt ik' n iptugR*he --kutra yÀsi tapaÕ kartuÌ devÀÕ santi gÐhe mamatÈrthÀni ca vicitrÀÍi santi kiÌ na piturgÐheWherefore goest thou forth to practise austerities; gods are therein my house and wondrous holinesses, and are there none in thy father'smansion?A similar rendering is also favoured by another passage of thesame Purana:šit SvtnyavaKy' è[uTva tu iptrO mune -¤ctudRŒ"i%tO .UTva vaZpgd(gdya igra --