[1139] That, great brahmin, is the rocky mountain Gandhamādana,
where King Vessantara dwells together with his children.
Wearing the guise of a brahmin, bearing the hook for plucking fruit (āsada),
the ladle for the fire-oblation, and his matted locks (jaṭā),
clad in hides, he lies upon the bare earth and worships the sacred fire (jātaveda).
Those trees, bearers of manifold fruits, appear dark green,
risen up like crests of storm-cloud, dark as mountains of collyrium (añjana).
Dhava and assakaṇṇa, khadira and sāl, phandana and māluvā creeper
sway together in the wind, like young men who have drunk strong drink but once.
Above, among the boughs of the trees, what seem choruses of song are heard,
as najjuhā birds and cuckoos in flocks fly from tree to tree.
Stirred in branch and leaf, they seem to call to him who passes by,
they seem to entice him who comes, and they gladden him who stays —
there where King Vessantara dwells together with his children,
wearing the guise of a brahmin, bearing the hook for plucking fruit,
the ladle for the fire-oblation, and his matted locks,
clad in hides, he lies upon the bare earth and worships the sacred fire.
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.