Text 49
siṁha-skandha-tviṣo bibhrat
saubhaga-grīva-kaustubham
śriyānapāyinyā kṣipta-
nikaṣāśmorasollasat
siṁha — a lion; skandha — shoulders; tviṣaḥ — the coils of hair; bibhrat — bearing; saubhaga — fortunate; grīva — neck; kaustubham — the pearl of the name; śriyā — beauty; anapāyinyā — never decreasing; kṣipta — defeating; nikaṣa — the stone for testing gold; aśma — stone; urasā — with the chest; ullasat — glittering.
The Lord has shoulders just like a lion’s. Upon these shoulders are garlands, necklaces and epaulets, and all of these are always glittering. Besides these, there is the beauty of the Kaustubha-maṇi pearl, and on the dark chest of the Lord there are streaks named Śrīvatsa, which are signs of the goddess of fortune. The glittering of these streaks excels the beauty of the golden streaks on a gold-testing stone. Indeed, such beauty defeats a gold-testing stone.
The curling hair on the shoulders of a lion always appears very, very beautiful. Similarly, the shoulders of the Lord were just like a lion’s, and the necklace and garlands, along with the Kaustubha pearl necklace, combined to excel the beauty of a lion. The chest of the Lord is streaked with Śrīvatsa lines, the sign of the goddess of fortune. Consequently the Lord’s chest excels the beauty of a testing stone for gold. The black siliceous stone on which gold is rubbed to test its value always looks very beautiful, being streaked with gold lines. Yet the chest of the Lord excels even such a stone in its beauty.