a treasury of sanskrit verses

toward a translation

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.60 of Kālidāsa

hitvā nīlaṃ bhujaga-valayaṃ śaṃbhunā datta-hastā

krīḍā-śaile yadi ca viharet pāda-cāreṇa gaurī | 

bhaṅgī-bhaktyā viracita-vapuḥ stambhita-antaḥ-jalaḥ asyāḥ

sopānatvaṃ kuru sukha-pada-sparśam ārohaṇeṣu ||

“pārvatī, approached by śiva, 

     shrinks back from his dark, serpent-adorned hand. 

if she were to amuse herself by walking on this pleasure mountain,

become a staircase for her by arranging your body into a row of steps. 

     holding water within, it will be pleasant for the touch of her ascending feet.”     

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.59 of Kālidāsa

utpaśyāmi tvayi taṭa-gate snigdha-bhinna-añjana-ābhe

sadyaḥ kṛtta-dvirada-daśana-cheda-gaurasya tasya |

līlām adreḥ stimita-nayana-prekṣaṇīyāṃ bhavitrīm

asaṃnyaste sati hala-bhṛtaḥ mecake vāsasi iva ||

“o cloud, your hue resembles collyrium freshly ground and glistening black.

     when you reach the slope of the mount kailāsa,

     whose whiteness dazzles like fragments of ivory finely chopped,

i expect that your playful charm will be a sight worthy of intently staring eyes.

     like the blue-black garment of the fair-skinned balarāma.”

photo courtesy of this site. 

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūta 1.58 of Kālidāsa

gatvā ca ūrdhvaṃ daśa-mukha-bhuja-ucchvāsita-prastha-saṃdheḥ

kailāsasya tri-daśa-vanitā-darpaṇasya atithiḥ syāḥ |

śṛṅga-ucchrāyaiḥ kumuda-viśadaiḥ yaḥ vitatya sthitaḥ khaṃ

rāśībhūtaḥ prati-niśam iva tryambakasya aṭṭahāsaḥ ||

“after going further north, you will be the guest of mount kailāsa

     the joints of its peaks were loosen by the ten-faced rāvana. 

     it serves as the mirror of the celestial beings’ wives. 

     pervading the sky, it stands tall with peaks glistening like white water lilies,

as if it were the nightly accumulation of the three-eyed śiva’s loud laughter.”

photo: rāvaṇa lifting up mount kailāsa, courtesy of this site. 

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūta 1.57 of Kālidāsa

prāleya-adreḥ upa-taṭam ati-kramya tāṃ tāṇ viśeṣān

haṃsa-dvāraṃ bhṛgu-pati-yasho-vartma yat krauñca-randhram |

tena udīcīṃ diśam abhisareḥ tiryak-āyāma-śobhī

śyāmaḥ pādaḥ bali-niyamana-abhyudyatasya iva viṣṇoḥ ||

“after crossing the wondrous sights on the skirt of the snow-clad mountain,

     you should advance northward through a pass in the krauñca mountain. 

      it is the traveling geese’s gateway to the himālayas

      and the glorious path of fiery sage paraśurāma. 

      by stretching horizontally, you will appear beautiful 

like viṣṇu’s dark foot raised to crush the demon bali.”

Painting courtesy of Wiki commons. 

[sanskritpoems]

Rāmāyaṇa 1.2.15 of Vālmīki

mā niṣāda pratiṣthāṃ tvam agamaḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ | 

yat krauñca-mithunād ekam avadhīḥ kāma-mohitam ||

“o hunter, may you not find peace in a million years,

    as you slew one of a pair of cranes utterly absorbed in making love.”

Photo courtesy of this site. 

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūta 1.56 of Kālidāsa

śabdāyante madhuram anilaiḥ kīcakāḥ pūryamāṇāḥ

saṃraktābhiḥ tri-pura-vijayaḥ gīyate kiṃnarībhiḥ |

nirhrādī te muraja iva cet kandarāsu dhvaniḥ syāt

saṃgīta-arthaḥ nanu paśupateḥ tatra bhāvī samastaḥ ||

“hollow bamboos whistling in the wind make sweet noises. 

     impassioned celestial musicians sing of the conquest of the triple city.  

     if your drum-like deep rumbling were to resound in the caves,

indeed, you will complete there the orchestra of śiva, the lord of creatures.”

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūta 1.55 of Kālidāsa

tatra vyaktaṃ dṛṣadi caraṇa-nyāsam ardha-indu-mauleḥ

śaśvat siddhaiḥ upa-hṛta-baliṃ bhakti-namraḥ parīyāḥ | 

yasmin dṛṣṭe karaṇa-vigamāt ūrdhvam uddhūta-pāpāḥ

kalpante ‘asya sthira-gaṇa-pada-prāptaye śraddadhānāḥ ||

“bent low with devotion, circumambulate the sacred rock

     where the half-moon crowned śiva has placed his feet.

     it is forever marked by the worship offerings of the yogis. 

wishing to join the rank of śiva’s everlasting servants,

     the faithful, on seeing this himālāyan rock,

     become sinless after the demise of their bodies.”

Photo courtesy of this site. 

[sanskritpoems]

Raghuvaṃśa 1.1 of Kālidāsa

vāk-arthau iva saṃpṛktau vāk-artha-pratipattaye |

jagataḥ pitarau vande pārvatī-parameśvarau || 

for correct knowledge of word and meaning,

     i pray to the parents of the universe,

     śiva and pārvatī

who are eternally intertwined like word and meaning. 

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.54 of Kālidāsa

ye tvāṃ mukta-dhvanim a-sahanāḥ kāya-bhaṅgāya tasmin

darpa-utsekāt upari śarabhāḥ laṅghayiṣyanti alaṅghyam |

tān kurvīthāḥ tumula-karakā-vṛṣṭi-hāsa-avakīrṇān

ke vā na syuḥ pari-bhava-padaṃ niṣphala-ārambha-yatnāḥ ||

“the śarabha* beasts are unable to tolerate your thundering. 

     brimming with arrogance,

     they will try to attack you repeatedly though you are beyond reach. 

pour upon them a shower of your dazzlingly white tumultuous hail. 

which beings--their efforts doomed to failure from the beginning--

     ought not to be objects of contempt?”

*mallinātha’s commentary explains that the śarabha is a certain eight-legged animal.

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.53 of Kālidāsa

taṃ cet vāyau sarati sarala-skandha-saṃghaṭṭa-janmā

bādheta ulkā-kṣapita-camarī-bāla-bhāraḥ davāgniḥ ||

arhasi enaṃ śamayitum alaṃ vāri-dhāra-sahasraiḥ

āpanna-ārti-praśamana-phalāḥ saṃpadaḥ hi uttamānām ||

“when the wind blows,

     if the forest fire 

         rising from the rubbing of pine tree branches

         engulfing yaks’ tails with its flames

     were to torment the snowy mountain,

then you should stamp it out completely with a heavy downpour. 

for the best of all, what is wealth but the fruit of assuaging pain of the afflicted?”

[sanskritpoems]

Mahābhārata 18.5.49 of Vyāsa

ūrdhva-bāhuḥ viraumi eṣa na ca kaścit śṛṇoti me |  

dharmāt arthāḥ ca kāmaḥ ca sa kim artham na sevyate ||

Throwing my arms in the air, I lament.      Nobody listens to me.      Prosperity and sensuality stem from righteousness.      Why then is it not cultivated?

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.52 of Kālidāsa

āsīnānāṃ surabhita-śilaṃ nābhi-gandhaiḥ mṛgāṇāṃ

tasyāḥ eva prabhavam a-calaṃ prāpya gauraṃ tuṣāraiḥ |

vakṣyasi adhva-śrama-vinayane tasya śṛṅge niṣaṇṇaḥ

śobhāṃ ramyāṃ tri-nayana-vṛṣa-utkhāta-paṅka-upameyām ||

“after reaching the source of the very same gaṅgā river,

     the snow-clad white mountain

     whose rocks are perfumed with the musk of deer seated on them,

     and reclining on its peak, which will remove the fatigue of your journey,

     you will exhibit a playful loveliness comparable to the dust raised

          by the bull of the three-eyed śiva.”

[sanskritpoems]

Madhymavyāyoga 1.51 of Bhāsa

yathā nadīnāṃ prabhavaḥ samudraḥ yathā āhutīnāṃ prabhavaḥ hutāśaḥ |

yatha indriyāṇāṃ prabhavaṃ manaḥ api tathā prabhuḥ naḥ bhagavān upendraḥ ||

just as the ocean is the mouth of the rivers,

     just as the sacrificial fire swallows up the oblations,

     just as the mind also has mastery over the sense-faculties,

     so too, lord viṣṇu / the upendra meter* is our master.

this verse puns on the word “upendra.” here, it means both lord viṣṇu and the meter in which the verse is composed, upendra. this is an eleven syllable meter with the caesura after the fifth syllable.  LHLHH, LLHLHH

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.51 of Kālidāsa

tasyāḥ pātuṃ sura-gaja iva vyomni pūrva-ardha-lambī

tvaṃ cet accha-sphaṭika-viśadaṃ tarkayeḥ tiryak ambhaḥ |

saṃsarpantyā sapadi bhavataḥ srotasi chāyayā sā

syāt a-sthāna-upanata-yamunā-saṅgamā iva abhirāmā ||

“like a celestial elephant in the sky, with trunk hanging down,

     should you wish to obliquely drink her (=gaṅgā’s) water,

     which is as clear as a pure crystal,

     then glide along with your shadow over the river.

in an instant, she will become lovely,

     as if conjoined with the yamunā out of place.”

[sanskritpoems]

durjanaḥ sujanī-kartuṃ yatnena api na śakyate |

saṃskāreṇa laśunaṃ kaḥ sugandhī-kariṣyati ||

a scoundrel cannot be made a virtuous person even with effort.

who indeed can make garlic fragrant by processing?

[sanskritpoems]

Meghadūtam 1.50 of Kālidāsa

tasmāt gacceḥ anu-kanakhalaṃ śaila-rāja-avatīrṇāṃ

jahnoḥ kanyāṃ sagara-tanaya-svarga-sopāna-paṅktim |

gaurī-vaktra-bhru-kuṭi-racanāṃ yā vihasya iva phenaiḥ

śaṃbhoḥ keśa-grahaṇam akarot indu-lagna-ūrmi-hastā ||

“from there [=the kuru field], go to the sacred site kanakhala,

     where jahnu’s daughter, the ganges,

     descends from the king of the mountains

     as a staircase to heaven for the sons of sagara. 

as if laughing with her white foams

     at the furrowed brows on gauri’s face,

     she--whose hands are the waves caressing the moon--

           grabbed śambhu’s hair.”

photo: painting by raja ravi varma that captures the ganga’s descent on to earth.

[sanskritpoems]

dṛṣṭaṃ kimapi loke asmin na nirguṇaṃ na nirduṣṭaṃ |

āvṛṇudhvam ataḥ doṣāṇ vivṛṇudhvam guṇān budhāḥ ||

anything that is seen in this world is neither devoid of virtues, nor devoid of faults. therefore, o wise ones, conceal your faults, and accentuate your virtues.