[1191]
Day and night I have waited upon my husband and my children,
as a young brahmin student waits upon his teacher —
wearing matted hair, living the holy life (brahmacārinī).
Clad in antelope hides, gathering wild roots and fruits,
I wander day and night — all for love of you, my little children.
Here is golden turmeric, brought for you, and the pale-yellow bael fruit,
and ripe fruits of the trees I have brought — these, my children, are your playthings.
Here is lotus rhizome and stalk, edible lily-root and water caltrop¹ —
eat it, O khattiya, mixed with honey, together with the children.
Give the lotus to Jāli, and the white water-lily to the little maiden;
see them dance in their garlands — call the children of the Sivis!
Then comes Kaṇhājinā — listen, O bull among charioteers,
to her sweet and lovely voice as she draws near² the hermitage.
We two, banished from the realm, alike in happiness and suffering (samānasukhadukkhā) —
have you seen the two Sivi children, Jāli and Kaṇhājinā both?
Surely I must have cursed³ ascetics and brahmins in this world —
those intent on the holy life, virtuous and of great learning —
that today I do not see my two children, Jāli and Kaṇhājinā both.
[Notes to the Siam Raṭṭha text: ¹ Ma. (Burmese edition): ciñcabhedakaṃ. ² Ma.: upayantiyā. ³ A footnote marker stands here in the original; its text falls outside the supplied excerpt.]
English translation from the Pali (Siam Raṭṭha edition) — under review, not for citation.