12.20

While Krishna, her heart’s delight and his family’s
pride and joy, amused himself, she said:
“Prettier than a swarm of bees hovering over a lotus
Were the glossy curls arranged around my spotless face.
Come close to me to coif them and put them back
in place.”

While Krishna, her heart’s delight and his family’s
pride and joy, amused himself, she said:
“Redraw, my beau, the alluring spot of musk
Upon my forehead, no longer wet with sweat,
That my face be like the moon, whereon such a mark
is set.”

While Krishna, her heart’s delight and his family’s
pride and joy, amused himself, she said:
“Till by our lovemaking it was disheveled,
Lustrous as Love’s banner or peacock plumage
was my hair;
Readorn it now, my enchanter—
replace the flowers there.”

While Krishna, her heart’s delight and his family’s
pride and joy, amused himself, she said:
“Like an elephant in a mountain cave, Love is cloistered
Within my firm-fleshed tumid lovesome loins laid bare;
Replace, sweetheart, the skirt and jeweled girdle there.”