मेघदूतम् · कालिदास · 1.1
रामगिरि · the exile
कश्चित् कान्ताविरहगुरुणा स्वाधिकारात्प्रमत्तः
शापेनास्तङ्गमितमहिमा वर्षभोग्येण भर्तुः
यक्षश्चक्रे जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु वसतिं रामगिर्याश्रमेषु
pāda a
pāda b
pāda c
pāda d
The metre is Mandākrāntā, seventeen syllables to a pāda in a fixed shape, with a pause (yati) after the fourth and the tenth. Kālidāsa sets a word boundary or a compound-member boundary at almost every pause; where he does not, the pause hides inside a compound, as the first yati of the second pāda hides inside अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा.
शापेन + अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा → शापेनास्तङ्गमितमहिमा
अ + अ → आ
यक्षः + चक्रे → यक्षश्चक्रे
ः + च्
वसतिम् + रामगिर्याश्रमेषु → वसतिं
म् + र्
कान्ता + विरह → कान्ताविरहगुरुणा
आ + व्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
विरह + गुरु → कान्ताविरहगुरुणा
अ + ग्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
स्व + अधिकार → स्वाधिकारात्
अ + अ → आ · falls inside the syllable स्वा
अस्तम् + गमित → अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा
म् + ग्
गमित + महिमन् → अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा
अ + म्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
वर्ष + भोग्य → वर्षभोग्येण
अ + भ्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
जनक + तनया → जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
अ + त्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
तनया + स्नान → जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
आ + स्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
स्नान + पुण्य → जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
अ + प्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
पुण्य + उदक → जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
अ + उ → ओ · falls inside the syllable ण्यो
स्निग्ध + छाया → स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु
अ + छ्
छाया + तरु → स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु
आ + त्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
रामगिरि + आश्रम → रामगिर्याश्रमेषु
इ + आ
Three kinds of sound change meet in this one verse: vowel with vowel (अ + अ → आ, अ + उ → ओ, इ + आ → या), the visarga changes (कः + च → कश्च), and the consonant changes (म् → anusvāra, a च् put in before छ). The first three are the opening rules of the abridgement's sandhi chapter, and this stanza uses all three.
स्वाधिकारात् पञ्चमी · ablative — the thing प्रमत्त is heedless of
Verbs of disgust, ceasing and carelessness take the ablative for the thing one is disgusted by, ceases from, or is careless of, so स्वाधिकारात् प्रमत्तः is "heedless of his charge", not "heedless from his charge". Mallinātha names the vārttika on 1.4.24 that adds this to the ablative's uses.
शापेन तृतीया · instrumental — करण, the instrument or cause
with कान्ताविरहगुरुणा, वर्षभोग्येण
भर्तुः षष्ठी · genitive — सम्बन्ध, a relation to another word
यक्षः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent
with कश्चित्, प्रमत्तः, अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा
वसतिम् द्वितीया · accusative — कर्म, the object
रामगिर्याश्रमेषु सप्तमी · locative — अधिकरण, the location
with जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु, स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु
The stanza uses six of the seven cases. The nominative is the agent (यक्षः and the adjectives that describe him), the accusative the object (वसतिम्), the instrumental the cause (शापेन and its adjectives), the ablative the point of departure — extended here to the thing one is heedless of — the genitive a relation between nouns (भर्तुः), and the locative the place (the three words in -एषु / -उषु). Finding the three clusters — what describes the agent, the object, the cause — is most of the work of construing.
प्रकरण 1 · हलन्त्यम्
प्रकरण 2 · इको यणचि
प्रकरण 3 · स्तोः श्चुना श्चुः
प्रकरण 4 · वा शरि
प्रकरण 5 · अर्थवदधातुरप्रत्ययः प्रातिपदिकम्
प्रकरण 8 · हो ढः
प्रकरण 11 · स्वरादिनिपातमव्ययम्
प्रकरण 12 · लः कर्मणि च भावे चाकर्मकेभ्यः
प्रकरण 33 · धातोः
प्रकरण 34 · ण्वुल्तृचौ
not in the abridgement
कान्ताविरहगुरुणा
कान्ता · विरह · गुरु
कान्तायाः विरहः
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — separation from the beloved
कान्ताविरहेण गुरुः
तत्पुरुष (instrumental) — heavy by reason of that separation
तत्पुरुष — it agrees with शापेन. heavy with the separation from his beloved — said of the curse
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“kāntāviraheṇa guruṇā durbhareṇa | dustareṇety arthaḥ”
स्वाधिकारात्
स्व · अधिकार
स्वस्य अधिकारः
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — his own charge, the office he was appointed to
तत्पुरुष. from his own charge
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī (gloss); the vigraha is the reader's“svādhikārāt svaniyogāt”
अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा
अस्तम् · गमित · महिमन्
अस्तं गमितः
तत्पुरुष (accusative) — caused to go to its setting, made to set
अस्तङ्गमितः महिमा यस्य सः
बहुव्रीहि — he whose greatness has been made to set
बहुव्रीहि — it refers to यक्षः. his power gone down like a sun that has set
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“astaṅgamito mahimā sāmarthyaṃ yasya so 'staṅgamitamahimā”
वर्षभोग्येण
वर्ष · भोग्य
वर्षं भोग्यः
तत्पुरुष (accusative) — to be undergone for a year
तत्पुरुष — it agrees with शापेन. to be borne for a year — said of the curse
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“varṣabhogyeṇa saṃvatsarabhogyeṇa”
जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
जनक · तनया · स्नान · पुण्य · उदक
जनकस्य तनया
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — Janaka's daughter — Sītā
जनकतनयायाः स्नानम्
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — her bathing
स्नानैः पुण्यानि उदकानि
तत्पुरुष (instrumental) — waters made holy by that bathing
पुण्यानि उदकानि येषु तेषु
बहुव्रीहि — [hermitages] in which those waters are
बहुव्रीहि — it refers to रामगिर्याश्रमेषु. in [the hermitages] whose waters Sītā's bathing made holy
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī; the division of जनकतनया is the reader's, where Mallinātha glosses it whole as सीतायाः“janakatanayāyāḥ sītāyāḥ snānair avagāhanaiḥ puṇyāni pavitrāṇy udakāni yeṣu teṣu”
स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु
स्निग्ध · छाया · तरु
छायाम् अदधानाः तरवः
कर्मधारय, with a middle word dropped — trees that bear shade — Mallinātha's śākapārthiva type, where a middle word drops out
स्निग्धाः छायातरवः येषु तेषु
बहुव्रीहि — [hermitages] in which those shade-trees are dense
बहुव्रीहि — it refers to रामगिर्याश्रमेषु. in [the hermitages] whose trees stand in dense shade
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“snigdhāḥ sāndrāś chāyātaravo nameruvṛkṣā yeṣu teṣu”
रामगिर्याश्रमेषु
रामगिरि · आश्रम
रामगिरेः आश्रमाः
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — the hermitages of Rāmagiri
तत्पुरुष. in the hermitages on Rāmagiri, which Mallinātha identifies as Citrakūṭa
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“rāmagireś citrakūṭasyāśrameṣu vasatim”
pronoun, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular
कश्चित्
किम् + चित्
a certain one, someone — a yakṣa whose name is not given. It is किम् with the particle चित्, which makes it indefinite
u-stem masculine, तृतीया एकवचन instrumental singular
कान्ताविरहगुरुणा
गुरु
heavy, hard to bear — agreeing with शापेन
Two steps, nested: कान्तायाः विरहः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष) makes कान्ताविरह, and कान्ताविरहेण गुरुः (तृतीया-तत्पुरुष) makes the whole, "heavy by that separation". गुरु here is the adjective "heavy", not the noun "teacher", and it agrees with शापेन.
a-stem masculine, पञ्चमी एकवचन ablative singular
स्वाधिकारात्
अधिकार
from his charge — the ablative of the thing one is heedless of
स्वस्य अधिकारः, a षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: "the office of his own", the post he was appointed to. One relation, one step, and it declines like अधिकार.
√मद् (4) + क्त, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular
प्रमत्तः
प्रमत्त, from प्र + √मद्
heedless, inattentive — having grown careless of his duty
a-stem masculine, तृतीया एकवचन instrumental singular
शापेन
printed शापेनास्तङ्गमितमहिमा
शाप
by the curse
शापेन ends in न and वर्षभोग्येण in ण, though both are instrumental singulars of a-stems. The ending टा becomes इन, and then a र् or ष् earlier in the word turns that न into ण across any of a listed set of sounds (8.4.2). शाप has no र् or ष्, so its न stays; वर्ष has ष्, which reaches across भोग्ये — every sound between them is on the list — and turns the न to ण. Seeing the two side by side teaches the rule better than the rule does.
an-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular
अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा
printed शापेनास्तङ्गमितमहिमा
महिमन्
greatness, power — here the whole compound describes the yakṣa
A tatpuruṣa wrapped in a bahuvrīhi: अस्तं गमितः (द्वितीया-तत्पुरुष), "made to set", then अस्तङ्गमितः महिमा यस्य सः, "he whose greatness has been made to set". The final member is महिमन्, an an-stem; its nominative singular महिमा loses both the न् of the stem and the स् of the ending and ends in a bare long आ, and that ending is how the compound tells you it goes with यक्षः.
√भुज् (7) + य, तृतीया एकवचन instrumental singular
वर्षभोग्येण
भोग्य, from √भुज्
to be undergone, to be endured — agreeing with शापेन
वर्षं भोग्यः, a द्वितीया-तत्पुरुष, "to be borne for a year". The accusative वर्षम् is the accusative of duration of time (2.3.5 कालाध्वनोरत्यन्तसंयोगे). भोग्य is a kṛtya, an adjective, and it agrees with शापेन.
ṛ-stem masculine, षष्ठी एकवचन genitive singular
भर्तुः
भर्तृ
of his master — Kubera, whose service he was in
भर्तुः is the genitive singular of भर्तृ, an agent noun in तृ, "one who supports, a master" — here Kubera. Its chain has a surprise: the ऋ becomes उ with a र् attached (1.1.51 उरण् रपरः), the स् of the ending drops after र्, and the र् becomes visarga before the pause. So भर्तुः and गुरोः look alike but are made differently.
a-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular
यक्षः
printed यक्षश्चक्रे
यक्ष
a yakṣa, one of the demigods in Kubera's service
√कृ, class 8, लिट्, atmanepada, third person singular
चक्रे
printed यक्षश्चक्रे
√कृ
he made — the verb of the whole verse, and it sits in line three
One finite verb: चक्रे, "he made", the perfect (liṭ) of √कृ, third singular ātmanepada. The perfect is the tense of an event the speaker did not witness — the narrative "once upon a time" a kāvya opens on. The middle voice is chosen because the fruit of the action returns to the doer: the yakṣa made a dwelling for himself. Reduplication is the signature of the perfect, and in it a velar becomes a palatal, so कृ gives चक्रे.
a-stem masculine, सप्तमी बहुवचन locative plural
जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु
उदक
water — but the compound is a bahuvrīhi and means the hermitages, not the waters. उदक is neuter as a noun and masculine here, taking the gender of the आश्रमाः it describes
Four steps: जनकस्य तनया (Sītā), जनकतनयायाः स्नानम् (her bathing), स्नानैः पुण्यानि उदकानि (waters made holy by it), and finally the bahuvrīhi पुण्यानि उदकानि येषु तेषु, describing the hermitages. उदक is neuter as a noun and takes आश्रम's masculine here; in the locative plural the two endings coincide, so the form does not show it.
u-stem masculine, सप्तमी बहुवचन locative plural
स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु
तरु
tree — again a bahuvrīhi, so again the hermitages
A compound with a word dropped. छायातरु is not an ordinary karmadhāraya — shade and tree are not the same thing — so its vigraha needs a middle word, छायाम् अदधानाः तरवः, "trees bearing shade". Mallinātha calls this the शाकपार्थिव type. The whole is a bahuvrīhi describing the hermitages, and so it stands in the locative plural beside आश्रमेषु.
i-stem feminine, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular
वसतिम्
printed वसतिं
वसति
a dwelling — from √वस् 'dwell' with the Uṇādi suffix अति
a-stem masculine, सप्तमी बहुवचन locative plural
रामगिर्याश्रमेषु
आश्रम
in the hermitages — the plural, Mallinātha notes, hints that he could settle in none of them
रामगिरेः आश्रमाः, a षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष, "the hermitages of Rāmagiri", which Mallinātha identifies with Citrakūṭa. रामगिरि is itself a compound but the corpus treats it as a name.
कश्चित् · यक्षः · स्वाधिकारात् · प्रमत्तः · कान्ताविरहगुरुणा · वर्षभोग्येण · भर्तुः · शापेन · अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा · जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु · स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु · रामगिर्याश्रमेषु · वसतिम् · चक्रे
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, whose commentary is written as anvaya“ihānvayamukhenaiva sarvaṃ vyākhyāyate mayā”
the dependency structure
चक्रे · क्रिया — the verb the sentence turns on
यक्षः · कर्ता — the agent
कश्चित् · which yakṣa
प्रमत्तः · heedless
स्वाधिकारात् · of what
अस्तङ्गमितमहिमा · his power set
वसतिम् · कर्म — the object
रामगिर्याश्रमेषु · अधिकरण — where
जनकतनयास्नानपुण्योदकेषु · whose waters
स्निग्धच्छायातरुषु · whose trees
शापेन · करण — the cause
कान्ताविरहगुरुणा · heavy with
वर्षभोग्येण · to be borne a year
भर्तुः · the master's
uncheckeddocs/lessons/1.1.md and docs/lessons/1.1.te.md, following Mallinātha's Sañjīvinī; the Telugu drawn from the Bālānandinī, Vedam's Āndhra Meghasandeśam, Chinnaya Sūri's Bālavyākaraṇam and the Kavijanāśrayam
The verb चक्रे and its subject यक्षः both sit in the third line, while everything that modifies them is in the first two, and the three locatives are in the last two. The verse is ordered by sound; the case endings carry the syntax, so the words are free to go where the metre wants them. That is the whole reason Sanskrit can do what it does in verse.
A certain yakṣa, having grown careless of the duty he was set, and his power made to set by his master's curse — a curse heavy with separation from his beloved and to be borne a year — made his dwelling among the hermitages on Rāmagiri, where Sītā's bathing had made the waters holy and the trees stood in dense shade. Mallinātha reads the mood as vipralambha-śṛṅgāra, love in separation, in its distracted state, and finds that reading confirmed by the plural आश्रमेषु: the yakṣa settles in no single one of them.
uncheckedthe reader's reading, following Mallinātha's gloss
Mallinātha draws out two things a first reading misses. The waters are holy because Sītā bathed in them: the poet sets his exiled yakṣa where the most famous exiled couple once lived, and the comparison is made by the choice of place, not stated. And आश्रमेषु is plural — "by the plural it is hinted that he could not settle in one place", a man in love-sickness held in the grammar of a single ending.
No figure is named for this verse by the commentary this reading follows, so none is shown.