मेघदूतम् · कालिदास · 1.9

रामगिरि · the escort of wind and cranes

मन्दं मन्दं नुदति पवनश्चानुकूलो यथा त्वां

म
न्दं
म
न्दं
नु
द
ति
प
व
न
श्चा
नु
कू
लो
य
था
त्वां

वामश्चायं नदति मधुरं चातकस्ते सगन्धः

वा
म
श्चा
यं
न
द
ति
म
धु
रं
चा
त
क
स्ते
स
ग
न्धः

गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयान्नूनमाबद्धमालाः

ग
र्भा
धा
न
क्ष
ण
प
रि
च
या
न्नू
न
मा
ब
द्ध
मा
लाः

सेविष्यन्ते नयनसुभगं खे भवन्तं बलाकाः

से
वि
ष्य
न्ते
न
य
न
सु
भ
गं
खे
भ
व
न्तं
ब
ला
काः

pāda a

  • मguruthe conjunct न्द that follows it
  • न्दंguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • मguruthe conjunct न्द that follows it
  • न्दंguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • नुlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • दlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • तिlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • पlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • वlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • नguruthe conjunct श्च that follows it
  • श्चाguruits long vowel आ
  • नुlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • कूguruits long vowel ऊ
  • लोguruits long vowel ओ
  • यlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • थाguruits long vowel आ
  • त्वांguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • yati after 4 — a word ends here — मन्दं
  • yati after 10 — it falls inside पवनः

pāda b

  • वाguruits long vowel आ
  • मguruthe conjunct श्च that follows it
  • श्चाguruits long vowel आ
  • यंguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • नlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • दlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • तिlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • मlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • धुlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • रंguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • चाguruits long vowel आ
  • तlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • कguruthe conjunct स्त that follows it
  • स्तेguruits long vowel ए
  • सlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • गguruthe conjunct न्ध that follows it
  • न्धःguruthe visarga it carries
  • yati after 4 — a word ends here — वामश्चायं
  • yati after 10 — a word ends here — मधुरं

pāda c

  • गguruthe conjunct र्भ that follows it
  • र्भाguruits long vowel आ
  • धाguruits long vowel आ
  • नguruthe conjunct क्ष that follows it
  • क्षlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • णlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • पlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • रिlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • चlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • याguruits long vowel आ
  • न्नूguruits long vowel ऊ
  • नlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • माguruits long vowel आ
  • बguruthe conjunct द्ध that follows it
  • द्धlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • माguruits long vowel आ
  • लाःguruthe visarga it carries
  • yati after 4 — a compound member ends here, inside गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात्
  • yati after 10 — it falls inside the compound गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात्

pāda d

  • सेguruits long vowel ए
  • विguruthe conjunct ष्य that follows it
  • ष्यguruthe conjunct न्त that follows it
  • न्तेguruits long vowel ए
  • नlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • यlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • नlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • सुlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • भlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • गंguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • खेguruits long vowel ए
  • भlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • वguruthe conjunct न्त that follows it
  • न्तंguruthe anusvāra it carries
  • बlaghuits short vowel, with a single consonant after it
  • लाguruits long vowel आ
  • काःguruthe visarga it carries
  • yati after 4 — a word ends here — सेविष्यन्ते
  • yati after 10 — a word ends here — नयनसुभगं

Two joins here are the first of their kind in the poem to be named cleanly: पवनः + च → पवनश्च and वामः + च → वामश्च, where the visarga becomes श् before the palatal च् (8.3.34, 8.4.40). चातकः + ते → चातकस्ते turns the visarga to स् before the dental त्. च + अनुकूलः and च + अयम् merge अ + अ into आ (पवनश्चानुकूलो, वामश्चायं). The run गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयान्नूनमाबद्धमालाः has one join the table cannot yet name, त् + न् → न्न्.

  • Chinnaya Sūri, Bālavyākaraṇam — సంధిపరిచ్ఛేదము; vendor/balavyakaranam-sandhi.txt
  • मन्दम् द्वितीया · accusative — क्रियाविशेषण — the adverb of how it pushes

    मन्दम् is an adjective, “slow, soft”, standing in the neuter accusative singular to do an adverb’s work, “gently”. An adjective in the neuter accusative is Sanskrit’s regular adverb, and the doubling मन्दं मन्दं intensifies it to “very gently indeed”. The same construction gives मधुरम्, “sweetly”, in the next clause.

    • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9: mandaṃ mandam iti vīpsāyāṃ dvirvacanam
  • मन्दम् द्वितीया · accusative — क्रियाविशेषण — the adverb of how it pushes

    मन्दम् is an adjective, “slow, soft”, standing in the neuter accusative singular to do an adverb’s work, “gently”. An adjective in the neuter accusative is Sanskrit’s regular adverb, and the doubling मन्दं मन्दं intensifies it to “very gently indeed”. The same construction gives मधुरम्, “sweetly”, in the next clause.

    • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9: mandaṃ mandam iti vīpsāyāṃ dvirvacanam
  • पवनः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

  • अनुकूलः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

  • त्वाम् द्वितीया · accusative — कर्म, the object

  • वामः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

  • अयम् प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

  • मधुरम् द्वितीया · accusative — कर्म, the object

  • चातकः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

  • ते षष्ठी · genitive — सम्बन्ध, a relation to another word

  • सगन्धः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

  • गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात् पञ्चमी · ablative — अपादान, the point of departure

  • खे सप्तमी · locative — अधिकरण, the location

  • भवन्तम् द्वितीया · accusative — कर्म, the object

    with नयनसुभगम्

  • बलाकाः प्रथमा · nominative — कर्ता, the agent

    with आबद्धमालाः

प्रकरण 1 · हलन्त्यम्

प्रकरण 2 · इको यणचि

प्रकरण 3 · स्तोः श्चुना श्चुः

प्रकरण 4 · वा शरि

  • ससजुषो रुः 8.2.66← पवनः; अनुकूलः; वामः; चातकः; सगन्धः; आबद्धमालाः; बलाकाः

प्रकरण 5 · अर्थवदधातुरप्रत्ययः प्रातिपदिकम्

प्रकरण 7 · अतोऽम्

प्रकरण 12 · लः कर्मणि च भावे चाकर्मकेभ्यः

प्रकरण 17 · तुदादिभ्यः शः

प्रकरण 59 · इवे प्रतिकृतौ

not in the abridgement

  • अ अ 8.4.68← नुदति; नदति; सेविष्यन्ते

गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात्

गर्भ · आधान · क्षण · परिचय

  1. गर्भस्य आधानम्

    तत्पुरुष (genitive) — the placing of the young

  2. गर्भाधानम् एव क्षणः

    कर्मधारय — that conceiving, which is itself the festival

  3. गर्भाधानक्षणस्य परिचयः

    तत्पुरुष (genitive) — their long acquaintance with that season

तत्पुरुष. from knowing, season after season, that this is when they conceive — the cranes are said to conceive at the touch of the rain-cloud

uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“garbhasya … tasyādhānamutpādanaṃ tadeva kṣaṇa utsavaḥ”

आबद्धमालाः

आबद्ध · माला

  1. आबद्धा माला याभिः ताः

    बहुव्रीहि — [the cranes] by whom a garland has been formed

बहुव्रीहि — it refers to बलाकाः. strung out in a line behind you

uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“ābaddhamālāḥ … tvatsamīpe baddhapaṅktayaḥ”

नयनसुभगम्

नयन · सुभग

  1. नयनयोः सुभगः

    तत्पुरुष (locative) — lovely to the eyes

तत्पुरुष — it agrees with भवन्तम्. good to look at

uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī“nayanasubhagaṃ dṛṣṭipriyaṃ”

  • a-stem neuter, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular

    मन्दम्

    printed मन्दं

    मन्द

    gently — an adjective used adverbially, in the neuter accusative

    मन्दं मन्दम्, “gently, gently”. मन्द is an adjective, “slow, soft”; put in the neuter accusative singular it does an adverb’s work, and the doubling (वीप्सा) turns “gently” into “very gently indeed”. Sanskrit makes most of its adverbs this way, an adjective frozen in the neuter accusative — मधुरम्, “sweetly”, in the next line is the same.

    • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9: mandaṃ mandaṃ śanaiḥ śanaiḥ
  • a-stem neuter, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular

    मन्दम्

    printed मन्दं

    मन्द

    and gently again — the doubling is what makes it "very gently indeed"

    मन्दं मन्दम्, “gently, gently”. मन्द is an adjective, “slow, soft”; put in the neuter accusative singular it does an adverb’s work, and the doubling (वीप्सा) turns “gently” into “very gently indeed”. Sanskrit makes most of its adverbs this way, an adjective frozen in the neuter accusative — मधुरम्, “sweetly”, in the next line is the same.

    • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9: mandaṃ mandaṃ śanaiḥ śanaiḥ
  • √नुद्, class 6, लट्, parasmaipada, third person singular

    नुदति

    √नुद्

    pushes you along — Mallinātha glosses प्रेरयति, drives

  • a-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular

    पवनः

    printed पवनश्चानुकूलो

    पवन

    the wind

  • अव्यय

    च

    printed पवनश्चानुकूलो

    च

    and

  • a-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular

    अनुकूलः

    printed पवनश्चानुकूलो

    अनुकूल

    favourable, at your back — literally "along the bank"

  • अव्यय

    यथा

    यथा

    in keeping — Mallinātha glosses सदृशम्, in a way that matches what is coming

  • pronoun, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular

    त्वाम्

    printed त्वां

    त्वद्

    you

  • a-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular

    वामः

    printed वामश्चायं

    वाम

    on the left — which is the lucky side for a bird to call from

  • अव्यय

    च

    printed वामश्चायं

    च

    and

  • pronoun, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular

    अयम्

    printed वामश्चायं

    इदम्

    this one here

  • √नद्, class 1, लट्, parasmaipada, third person singular

    नदति

    √नद्

    cries out — Mallinātha glosses व्याहरति

  • a-stem neuter, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular

    मधुरम्

    printed मधुरं

    मधुर

    sweetly — again an adjective doing adverb’s work

  • a-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular

    चातकः

    printed चातकस्ते

    चातक

    the cātaka — the bird said to drink only rain, straight from the cloud

  • pronoun, षष्ठी एकवचन genitive singular

    ते

    printed चातकस्ते

    त्वद्

    your

  • a-stem masculine, प्रथमा एकवचन nominative singular

    सगन्धः

    सगन्ध

    of one scent with you — kin, or, as Mallinātha first takes it, proud

    सगन्धः, literally “of one scent”, hence “of one kind, kin”. The cātaka is called the cloud’s kinsman because it is said to drink only rain, straight from the cloud; so the bird crying on the lucky left is family cheering the traveller on. Mallinātha first takes सगन्धः in its other sense, “proud”, then settles on “kin” as fitting the omen.

    • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9: sagandhaḥ samānagandhaḥ bandhur ity arthaḥ
  • a-stem masculine, पञ्चमी एकवचन ablative singular

    गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात्

    printed गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयान्नूनमाबद्धमालाः

    परिचय

    from long acquaintance — the ablative of the cause

    गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात्, “from acquaintance with the moment of conceiving” — an ablative of cause. The cranes are said to conceive at the touch of the rain-cloud, and knowing the season by long habit, they gather behind it. The whole omen turns on the belief: the very birds read the cloud as the sign that their time has come, and follow it as a retinue आबद्धमालाः, “strung in a garland-line”, across the sky.

    • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9: garbhādhānasya kṣaṇaḥ tasya paricayāt
  • अव्यय

    नूनम्

    printed गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयान्नूनमाबद्धमालाः

    नूनम्

    surely, without doubt

  • ā-stem feminine, प्रथमा बहुवचन nominative plural

    आबद्धमालाः

    printed गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयान्नूनमाबद्धमालाः

    माला

    garlands, strings — inside a bahuvrīhi, so it describes the cranes strung out in a line

  • √सेव्, class 1, लृट्, atmanepada, third person plural

    सेविष्यन्ते

    √सेव्

    will attend on you — the future middle, which is the voice √सेव् takes

    सेविष्यन्ते, “they will attend on you”, the future (लृट्) of √सेव्, third person plural, middle voice — √सेव् is an ātmanepada root, so the ending is the middle न्ते. The cranes will not merely fly with the cloud; the verb of service makes them its retinue, strung out behind it like a king’s train.

    • Bālānandinī (LSK, Telugu) — तिङन्त लृट् / आत्मनेपद प्रकरणम्; vendor/balanandini-lsk-telugu-ocr.txt
  • a-stem masculine, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular

    नयनसुभगम्

    printed नयनसुभगं

    सुभग

    lovely — and the compound says to what: to the eye

  • a-stem neuter, सप्तमी एकवचन locative singular

    खे

    ख

    in the sky

  • at-stem masculine, द्वितीया एकवचन accusative singular

    भवन्तम्

    printed भवन्तं

    भवत्

    you — the polite word, which declines as an at-stem

  • ā-stem feminine, प्रथमा बहुवचन nominative plural

    बलाकाः

    बलाका

    the cranes — the birds that fly ahead of the rains

अनुकूलः · पवनः · च · त्वाम् · यथा · मन्दम् · मन्दम् · नुदति · अयम् · ते · सगन्धः · वामः · चातकः · च · मधुरम् · नदति · गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात् · आबद्धमालाः · बलाकाः · खे · नयनसुभगम् · भवन्तम् · नूनम् · सेविष्यन्ते

uncheckedMallinātha, Sañjīvinī, whose commentary is written as anvaya“ihānvayamukhenaiva sarvaṃ vyākhyāyate mayā”

the dependency structure

नुदति · क्रिया — pushes you along: the first of three favourable omens

पवनः · कर्ता — the wind

अनुकूलः · at your back — agreeing with पवनः

त्वाम् · कर्म — you

मन्दम् · क्रियाविशेषण — gently

मन्दम् · क्रियाविशेषण — and gently again, “very gently indeed”

यथा · in a way that fits what is coming

च · and — joining the second omen

नदति · the second omen, hung beneath the verb: cries out

चातकः · कर्ता — the cātaka

अयम् · this one here — agreeing with चातकः

सगन्धः · kin, of one scent with you — agreeing with चातकः

ते · with you

वामः · on the left, the lucky side — agreeing with चातकः

मधुरम् · क्रियाविशेषण — sweetly

च · and — joining the third omen

सेविष्यन्ते · the third omen, hung beneath the verb: will attend on you

बलाकाः · कर्ता — the cranes

आबद्धमालाः · strung out in a line — a bahuvrīhi describing them

गर्भाधानक्षणपरिचयात् · हेतु — from long acquaintance with the season they conceive in

भवन्तम् · कर्म — you (the polite word)

नयनसुभगम् · good to look at — agreeing with भवन्तम्

खे · अधिकरण — in the sky

नूनम् · surely, without doubt

uncheckedMallinātha’s Sañjīvinī for the anvaya and the reading; the Telugu drawn from Vedam Venkataraya Sastri’s Āndhra Meghasandeśam and the Bālānandinī

The wind is at your back and pushes you along very gently, in a way that fits what is coming; and this cātaka, kin of yours, calls sweetly on your left. Cranes, who know from long acquaintance that this is the season they conceive in, will string themselves out behind you in the sky and attend on you, who are good to look at.

uncheckedthe reader's reading, following Mallinātha's gloss

The wind is at your back and pushes you along very gently, in a way that fits what is coming; and this cātaka, kin of yours, calls sweetly on your left. Cranes, who know from long acquaintance that this is the season they conceive in, will string themselves out behind you in the sky and attend on you, who are good to look at.

  • Mallinātha, Sañjīvinī — 1.9, whole-verse gloss

No figure is named for this verse by the commentary this reading follows, so none is shown.