मेघदूतम् · कालिदास · 1.37
महाकाल · the temple women, and their glances
पादन्यासैः क्वणितरशनास्तत्र लीलावधूतै
रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिश्चामरैः क्लान्तहस्ताः
वेश्यास्त्वत्तो नखपदसुखान् प्राप्य वर्षाग्रबिन्दून्
आमोक्ष्यन्ते त्वयि मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान् कटाक्षान्
pāda a
pāda b
pāda c
pāda d
क्वणितरशनाः + तत्र → क्वणितरशनास्तत्र
ः + त्
लीलावधूतैः + रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः → लीलावधूतै
ः + र्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः + चामरैः → रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिश्चामरैः
ः + च्
वेश्याः + त्वत्तः → वेश्यास्त्वत्तो
ः + त्
पाद + न्यास → पादन्यासैः
अ + न्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
क्वणित + रशना → क्वणितरशनाः
अ + र्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
लीला + अवधूत → लीलावधूतैः
आ + अ → आ · falls inside the syllable ला
रत्न + छाया → रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः
अ + छ्
छाया + खचित → रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः
आ + ख्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
खचित + वलि → रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः
अ + व्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
क्लान्त + हस्त → क्लान्तहस्ताः
अ + ह्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
नख + पद → नखपदसुखान्
अ + प्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
पद + सुख → नखपदसुखान्
अ + स्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
वर्ष + अग्र → वर्षाग्रबिन्दून्
अ + अ → आ · falls inside the syllable र्षा
अग्र + बिन्दु → वर्षाग्रबिन्दून्
अ + ब्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
मधुकर + श्रेणि → मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान्
अ + श्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
श्रेणि + दीर्घ → मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान्
इ + द्
no rule named — the builder's table does not hold this change
Two of the joins are the visarga's dental outcome and one is its palatal. क्वणितरशनास्तत्र and वेश्यास्त्वत्तो turn a visarga to स् before the dental त् (Pāṇini 8.3.34): क्वणितरशनाः + तत्र, वेश्याः + त्वत्तः. रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिश्चामरैः is the same visarga meeting the palatal च्: it goes to श् (8.3.34, then ścutva 8.4.40), so the words print joined with श्च. लीलावधूतै shows the visarga simply lost before the र् that opens the next word रत्नच्छाया- : a visarga does not stand before र्, so लीलावधूतैः drops it and prints लीलावधूतै.
पादन्यासैः तृतीया · instrumental — करण, the instrument or cause
चामरैः तृतीया · instrumental — करण, the instrument or cause
with लीलावधूतैः, रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः
वेश्याः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent
with क्वणितरशनाः, क्लान्तहस्ताः
त्वत्तः पञ्चमी · ablative — अपादान, the point of departure
वर्षाग्रबिन्दून् द्वितीया · accusative — कर्म, the object
with नखपदसुखान्
त्वयि सप्तमी · locative — अधिकरण, the location
कटाक्षान् द्वितीया · accusative — कर्म, the object
with मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान्
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 16 · स्वादिभ्यः श्नुः
प्रकरण 34 · ण्वुल्तृचौ
प्रकरण 36 · तुमुन्ण्वुलौ क्रियायां क्रियार्थायाम्
प्रकरण 48 · शेषे
not in the abridgement
पादन्यासैः
पाद · न्यास
पादानां न्यासाः
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — the setting down of the feet
तत्पुरुष. with the placing of their feet — Mallinātha glosses चरणनिक्षेपैः, the letting fall of the feet, and then says what kind of thing that is here: नृत्याङ्गैः, the limbs of a dance. So the compound is not walking but the step as a figure of the dance, and it is the step that makes the girdles ring
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“pādanyāsaiścaraṇanikṣepairnṛtyāṅgaiḥ”
क्वणितरशनाः
क्वणित · रशना
क्वणिताः रशनाः यासां ताः
बहुव्रीहि — the women whose girdles have rung
बहुव्रीहि — it refers to वेश्याः. their girdles ringing — Mallinātha's vigraha is his own, क्वणिताः शब्दायमाना रशना यासां ताः, and he stops on the participle to say why it is active rather than passive: √क्वण् is intransitive, and a क्त on an intransitive root names the agent, by the rule that begins गत्यर्थाकर्मक- — Pāṇini 3.4.72. So the girdles are not 'sounded' by anyone; they have rung. It is the same rule that stands behind उद्भ्रान्तः at 1.33, and here the commentator names it
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, who cites the sūtra by its opening word; the full text of Pāṇini 3.4.72 from skt-mcp“kvaṇitāḥ śabdāyamānā raśanā yāsāṃ tāstathoktāḥ || kvaṇaterakarmakatvāt “gatyarthākarmaka-” ityādinā kartari ktaḥ”
लीलावधूतैः
लीला · अवधूत
लीलया अवधूतैः
तत्पुरुष (instrumental) — shaken in play
तत्पुरुष — it agrees with चामरैः. waved for the look of it — Mallinātha unpacks it with the instrumental showing, लीलया अवधूतैः, and glosses लीला as विलास: not idleness but display. The whisk is a servant's tool being used as a dancer's
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“līlayā vilāsenāvadhūtaiḥ kampitaiḥ”
रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः
रत्न · छाया · खचित · वलि
रत्नानां छाया
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — the light off the gems
रत्नच्छायया खचिताः
तत्पुरुष (instrumental) — studded with that light
रत्नच्छायाखचिताः वलयः येषां तैः
बहुव्रीहि — the whisks whose handles are
बहुव्रीहि — it refers to चामरैः. their handles inlaid with the gems' light — Mallinātha's vigraha runs the whole chain and fills in whose gems: कङ्कणमणीनाम्, the stones in the bracelets. So the light is not in the handle but on it, thrown there by the wrist that holds it — the inlay is a reflection. He fixes वलि with Viśva, who gives it a chowrie's handle and, in the same line, the slack skin of old age
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, citing Viśva“ratnānāṃ kaṅkaṇamaṇīnāṃ chāyayā kāntyā khacitā rūṣitā valayaścāmaradaṇḍā yeṣāṃ taiḥ || “valiścāmaradaṇḍe ca jarāvislathacarmaṇi” iti viśvaḥ”
क्लान्तहस्ताः
क्लान्त · हस्त
क्लान्ताः हस्ताः यासां ताः
बहुव्रीहि — the women whose hands have tired
बहुव्रीहि — it refers to वेश्याः. their hands gone tired — Mallinātha carries the compound over without a vigraha and only names what tired them, चामरैर्वालव्यजनैः, the yak-tail fans. Then he says what all this equipment adds up to: एतेन दैशिकं नृत्यं सूचितम्, a dance of the दैशिक kind is meant, and quotes the Nṛtyasarvasva for what that is — the dance done holding something, a sword, a ball, a cloth, a wand, a whisk, a garland or a vīṇā. The tiredness is the evidence: they have been holding the whisks a long time
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, citing the Nṛtyasarvasva; the vigraha restored“cāmarairvālavyajanaiḥ klāntahastāḥ || etena daiśikaṃ nṛtyaṃ sūcitam | taduktaṃ nṛtyasarvasve — “khaḍgakandukavastrādidaṇḍikācāmarasrajaḥ | vīṇāṃ ca dhṛtvā yatkuryurnṛtyaṃ taddaiśikaṃ bhavet ||” iti”
नखपदसुखान्
नख · पद · सुख
नखानां पदानि
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — the marks the nails leave
नखपदेषु सुखान्
तत्पुरुष (locative) — kind on those
तत्पुरुष — it agrees with वर्षाग्रबिन्दून्. kind on the nail-marks — Mallinātha unpacks it with the locative in place, नखपदेषु नखक्षतेषु सुखान्, and then makes सुख active: सुखकरान्, pleasure-giving, with the Śabdārṇava behind it for सुख meaning both the pleasure and the cause of it. What the drops fall on is the scratches love-making has left, and the first cold rain on them is the whole of the stanza's reward
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, citing the Śabdārṇava“nakhapadeṣu nakhakṣateṣu sukhānsukhakarān || “sukhahetau sukhe sukham” iti śabdārṇave”
वर्षाग्रबिन्दून्
वर्ष · अग्र · बिन्दु
अग्रे बिन्दवः
तत्पुरुष (locative) — the drops that come first
वर्षस्य अग्रबिन्दवः
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — and they are the rain's
तत्पुरुष. the rain's first drops — Mallinātha glosses अग्रबिन्दून् by प्रथमबिन्दून्, so अग्र is first in time and not in place. The cloud has not yet begun to rain; what the dancers get is the few drops that come before it does
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“varṣasyāgrabindūnprathamabindūn”
मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान्
मधुकर · श्रेणि · दीर्घ
मधुकराणां श्रेणिः
तत्पुरुष (genitive) — a line of bees
मधुकरश्रेण्या इव दीर्घान्
तत्पुरुष (instrumental) — long as one of those
तत्पुरुष — it agrees with कटाक्षान्. long as a line of bees — Mallinātha carries the compound over unglossed, so the इव is restored. The comparison does two things at once: it gives the glance its length, and it gives it the colour and the wavering of a row of bees, which is what a side-long look does at the corner of a dark eye
uncheckedDCS (members); Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī, who repeats the compound without unpacking it; the vigraha restored“tvayi madhukaraśreṇidīrghānkaṭākṣānapāṅgān”
a-stem masculine, तृतीया बहुवचन instrumental plural
पादन्यासैः
न्यास
with the setting down — न्यास is from नि + √अस्, to put down, and it is the word for laying anything anywhere: a deposit, a stake, a written letter. Mallinātha glosses निक्षेपैः, which is the same word with a different prefix
ā-stem feminine, प्रथमा बहुवचन nominative plural
क्वणितरशनाः
printed क्वणितरशनास्तत्र
रशना
girdles — the belt of small bells and metal a dancer wears at the waist, which is why a step makes a sound at all. Mallinātha glosses the participle before it as शब्दायमानाः, sounding
अव्यय
तत्र
printed क्वणितरशनास्तत्र
तत्र
then — and this is Mallinātha's reading, not the obvious one: he glosses सन्ध्याकाले, at the hour of dusk. The word ordinarily points at a place, and the stanza before it has just named a place; he takes it to point at the time that stanza was counting down to instead
√धू + क्त, तृतीया बहुवचन instrumental plural
लीलावधूतैः
printed लीलावधूतै
अवधूत, from अव + √धू
shaken — Mallinātha glosses कम्पितैः. The word is printed short of its visarga because the next pāda begins with र, and the र् the visarga would become drops before it: the analysis reads अवधूतैः where the page shows अवधूतै
i-stem neuter, तृतीया बहुवचन instrumental plural
रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः
printed रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिश्चामरैः
वलि
handle — the stick a whisk is mounted on. Mallinātha glosses चामरदण्डाः and quotes Viśva, whose line gives वलि this sense and, next to it, the loosened skin of an old body: the same word for the shaft of a fan and for a fold of skin. वलि is masculine as a noun, and at the end of a bahuvrīhi describing the neuter चामरैः it takes that gender; the instrumental plural वलिभिः is the same either way
रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः, “their handles inlaid with the light of the gems,” describes the whisk-handles and shows how a Sanskrit compound can hold a whole picture. वलि, glossed चामरदण्ड with Viśva behind it, is the stick a flywhisk is mounted on. It is खचित, “studded, inlaid,” not with gems but with रत्नच्छाया, “the gems' light” — and Mallinātha fills in whose gems, कङ्कणमणीनाम्, the stones of the dancers' own wrist-bangles. So as the hand waves the whisk, the light off the bracelet plays along the handle and seems set into it. The whisks themselves are लीलावधूत, “waved for the look of it,” लीला being विलास, graceful play, not work.
a-stem neuter, तृतीया बहुवचन instrumental plural
चामरैः
printed रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिश्चामरैः
चामर
with the whisks — Mallinātha glosses वालव्यजनैः, fans of hair: the yak-tail flywhisk that is waved over a king or a god. Both of the stanza's long adjectives hang on this word
ā-stem feminine, प्रथमा बहुवचन nominative plural
क्लान्तहस्ताः
हस्ता, the feminine हस्त becomes at the end of a bahuvrīhi describing women
hands — masculine wherever it stands on its own, and feminine here because the compound it ends describes the dancers. The word for the hand is doing what the word for a girdle-string did nine verses ago. A bahuvrīhi ending in an a-stem takes ā when it describes women, so हस्त becomes हस्ता, as काञ्चीगुण became काञ्चीगुणा at 1.28
ā-stem feminine, प्रथमा बहुवचन nominative plural
वेश्याः
printed वेश्यास्त्वत्तो
वेश्या
the courtesans — Mallinātha glosses गणिकाः and puts them where the stanza wants them: महाकालनाथमुपेत्य नृत्यन्त्यः, come before the lord of Mahākāla and dancing. They are the subject of the whole stanza and both bahuvrīhis describe them
pronoun, पञ्चमी एकवचन ablative singular
त्वत्तः
printed वेश्यास्त्वत्तो
युष्मद्
from you — the source of the drops. The ablative is doing the whole of the exchange the stanza turns on: something comes from the cloud, and something goes back to him. It is त्वत् with the affix तस्, which makes an ablative and stands for the plain ablative
a-stem masculine, द्वितीया बहुवचन accusative plural
नखपदसुखान्
सुख
kind — Mallinātha makes it causative, सुखकरान्, and quotes the Śabdārṇava for the word covering both the pleasure and what brings it. Here it is the second: the drops are not pleased, they please. सुख is neuter as a noun and masculine here, taking the gender of the बिन्दून् it describes
नखपदसुखान्, “kind on the nail-marks,” carries the stanza's fancy in one compound. नखपद is a नखक्षत, the scratch a lover's nails leave; and the cloud's first cool drops fall just there and soothe them. Mallinātha unpacks it with the locative in place, नखपदेषु सुखान्, “easy upon the nail-marks,” and then makes सुख active, सुखकरान्, “bringing ease” — not drops that are pleasant but drops that do the soothing, with the Śabdārṇava behind the word for both the pleasure and its cause. वर्षाग्रबिन्दु he glosses प्रथमबिन्दून्, the first drops, so अग्र is first in time: the cloud has not rained yet, and this is the very front of it.
ल्यप्
प्राप्य
प्राप्य, from प्र + √आप्
having got them — the absolutive that makes the getting the condition of the giving back. Mallinātha carries the word over unglossed and puts the whole exchange in one line of his own: those who have been done a kindness repay it at once
u-stem masculine, द्वितीया बहुवचन accusative plural
वर्षाग्रबिन्दून्
बिन्दु
drops — the object of प्राप्य, and what the cloud gives. Mallinātha's gloss प्रथमबिन्दून् makes them the first of the rain, so the gift is small and early and the return is immediate
√मुच्, class 6, लृट्, atmanepada, third person plural
आमोक्ष्यन्ते
√मुच्
they will let fly — √मुच् is to loose or let go, so a glance is thrown the way an arrow is. It is the stanza's one finite verb and it comes last but one. Mallinātha closes on what the line suggests without saying: the fruit of worshipping Śiva is to be worth looking at, and the cloud gets it on the spot
आमोक्ष्यन्ते, “they will let fly,” is √मुच्, “to loose, to let go,” the verb for releasing an arrow, and it is the one finite verb the whole stanza has been building toward — held back, like the subject of 1.31, to the very end. The courtesans do everything else first: their belts ring, their hands tire at the whisks, they catch the cloud's first drops on the marks their lovers left. Then, and only then, they loose the glance. A look shot with √मुच् is a look shot like a weapon, and कटाक्ष, अपाङ्ग, is the eye already gone sideways — the sidelong shot, thrown the length of a line of bees.
pronoun, सप्तमी एकवचन locative singular
त्वयि
युष्मद्
on you — the locative a glance falls into. The cloud stands twice in this line, once as where the drops came from and once as where the looks land, and the two cases are the two halves of the trade
a-stem masculine, द्वितीया बहुवचन accusative plural
मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान्
दीर्घ
long — the plainest word in the line, and the one the comparison is built on. What is long is the look, and what it is long like is a queue of bees
a-stem masculine, द्वितीया बहुवचन accusative plural
कटाक्षान्
कटाक्ष
side-glances — Mallinātha glosses अपाङ्गान्, looks from the outer corner of the eye. कटाक्ष is the eye gone sideways, and the word carries the whole of what such a look means without any of it being said
तत्र · पादन्यासैः · क्वणितरशनाः · लीलावधूतैः · रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः · चामरैः · क्लान्तहस्ताः · वेश्याः · त्वत्तः · नखपदसुखान् · वर्षाग्रबिन्दून् · प्राप्य · त्वयि · मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान् · कटाक्षान् · आमोक्ष्यन्ते
uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, whose commentary is written as anvaya“tatra sandhyākāle || pādanyāsaiḥ … kvaṇitāḥ … raśanā yāsāṃ tāḥ … līlayā … avadhūtaiḥ … valayaścāmaradaṇḍā yeṣāṃ taiḥ … cāmarairvālavyajanaiḥ klāntahastāḥ … veśyā … gaṇikāstvatto nakhapadeṣu … sukhān … varṣasyāgrabindūn … prāpya tvayi madhukaraśreṇidīrghānkaṭākṣānapāṅgānāmokṣyante”
the dependency structure
आमोक्ष्यन्ते · क्रिया — they will let fly; √मुच्, to loose or let go, so a glance is thrown the way an arrow is
वेश्याः · कर्ता — the courtesans, गणिकाः; come before the lord of Mahākāla to dance, महाकालनाथमुपेत्य नृत्यन्त्यः
क्वणितरशनाः · agreeing with वेश्याः — their girdles ringing, क्वणिताः शब्दायमाना रशना यासां ताः
पादन्यासैः · करण — with the setting-down of their feet, चरणनिक्षेपैः; a step is what makes the belt-bells sound
क्लान्तहस्ताः · agreeing with वेश्याः — their hands gone tired
चामरैः · करण — from the whisks, वालव्यजनैः, the yak-tail fans waved over a god
लीलावधूतैः · agreeing with चामरैः — waved for the look of it, लीलया अवधूतैः, लीला being विलास
रत्नच्छायाखचितवलिभिः · agreeing with चामरैः — their handles inlaid with the light of the wrist-gems, कङ्कणमणीनां छायया खचिताः
प्राप्य · having got them — the absolutive that makes the getting the condition of the giving-back
वर्षाग्रबिन्दून् · कर्म of प्राप्य — the rain's first drops, प्रथमबिन्दून्; the gift the cloud makes
नखपदसुखान् · agreeing with the drops — kind on the nail-marks, नखपदेषु सुखान्; सुख made active, सुखकरान्, ‘bringing ease’
त्वत्तः · अपादान — from you; the ablative that carries the whole exchange, something comes from the cloud
कटाक्षान् · कर्म — side-glances, अपाङ्गान्, looks from the outer corner of the eye
मधुकरश्रेणिदीर्घान् · agreeing with कटाक्षान् — long as a line of bees; the comparison sits inside the compound, the इव restored
त्वयि · अधिकरण — on you; the cloud stands twice in the line, once where the drops came from and once where the look falls
तत्र · then — सन्ध्याकाले, at the hour of dusk; Mallinātha reads the word as a time, not the place it usually points to
uncheckedMallinātha’s Sañjīvinī for the anvaya and the reading; the Telugu drawn from Vedam Venkataraya Sastri’s Āndhra Meghasandeśam and the Bālānandinī
Their girdles ringing at every step, their hands tired from the whisks — whose handles carry the light thrown off the gems at their wrists — the courtesans there will catch the first few drops off you, kind on the marks their lovers' nails have left, and let fly at you a look from the corner of the eye, long as a line of bees.
uncheckedthe reader's reading, following Mallinātha's gloss, whose closing note is that the stanza suggests something it does not say — the fruit of worshipping Śiva, which is to be worth a beautiful woman's looking at, comes to the cloud at once
Their girdles ringing at every step, their hands tired from the whisks — whose handles carry the light thrown off the gems at their wrists — the courtesans there will catch the first few drops off you, kind on the marks their lovers' nails have left, and let fly at you a look from the corner of the eye, long as a line of bees.
No figure is named for this verse by the commentary this reading follows, so none is shown.