The Rains and the Autumn; the Return to Kamyaka

Verse 1 (3.184.1)

निदाघान्तकरः कालः सर्वभूतसुखावहः । तत्रैव वसतां तेषां प्रावृट् समभिपद्यत ॥

nidāghāntakaraḥ kālaḥ sarvabhūtasukhāvahaḥ | tatraiva vasatāṃ teṣāṃ prāvṛṭ samabhipadyata

While they were living there, the rainy season set in — the season that ends the summer heat and brings comfort to all creatures.

Verse 2 (3.184.2)

छादयन्तो महाघोषाः खं दिशश्च बलाहकाः । प्रववर्षुर्दिवारात्रमसिताः सततं तदा ॥

chādayanto mahāghoṣāḥ khaṃ diśaśca balāhakāḥ | pravavarṣurdivārātramasitāḥ satataṃ tadā

Dark clouds, thundering loudly and covering the sky and the quarters, rained without pause day and night.

Note on the text: Corrected स्वं → खं (misprint in Wikisource; the common confusion of ख with स्व; the clouds cover "the sky and the quarters"; the critical edition reads khaṃ).

Verse 3 (3.184.3)

तपात्ययनिकेताश्च शतशोऽथ सहस्रशः । अपेतार्कप्रभाजालाः सविद्युद्विमलप्रभाः ॥

tapātyayaniketāśca śataśo'tha sahasraśaḥ | apetārkaprabhājālāḥ savidyudvimalaprabhāḥ

In their hundreds and thousands they hung like pavilions at the close of the hot season, shutting out the web of the sun's rays and gleaming with the bright light of lightning.

Note on the text: Corrected सविद्युन्मण्डप्रभाः → सविद्युद्विमलप्रभाः (misprint in Wikisource; मण्ड gives no sense and leaves the line a syllable short; the critical edition reads savidyudvimalaprabhāḥ).

Verse 4 (3.184.4)

विरूढशष्पा धरणी मत्तदंशसरीसृपा । बभूव पयसा सिक्ता शान्तधूमरजोगणा ॥

virūḍhaśaṣpā dharaṇī mattadaṃśasarīsṛpā | babhūva payasā siktā śāntadhūmarajogaṇā

The earth sprouted fresh grass and swarmed with excited gnats and creeping things; soaked with water, its smoke and clouds of dust were laid to rest.

Verse 5 (3.184.5)

न स्म प्रज्ञायते किंचिदम्भसा समवस्तृते । समं वा विषमं वाऽपि नद्यो वा स्थावराणि वा ॥

na sma prajñāyate kiṃcidambhasā samavastṛte | samaṃ vā viṣamaṃ vā'pi nadyo vā sthāvarāṇi vā

With everything covered by water, nothing could be made out — level ground or uneven, rivers or dry land.

Note on the text: Corrected स्तावराणि → स्थावराणि (misprint in Wikisource; त for थ; the critical edition reads sthāvarāṇi, and the page's own commentary glosses स्थावराणि).

Verse 6 (3.184.6)

क्षुब्धतोया महावेगाः श्वसमाना इवाशुगाः । सिन्धवः शोभयांचक्रुः काननानि तपात्यये ॥

kṣubdhatoyā mahāvegāḥ śvasamānā ivāśugāḥ | sindhavaḥ śobhayāṃcakruḥ kānanāni tapātyaye

Rivers with churning waters, flowing with great force and racing as though panting for breath, adorned the forests at the end of the hot season.

Verse 7 (3.184.7)

नदतां काननान्तेषु श्रूयन्ते विविधाः स्वनाः । वृष्टिभिस्ताड्यमानानां वराहमृगपक्षिणाम् ॥

nadatāṃ kānanānteṣu śrūyante vividhāḥ svanāḥ | vṛṣṭibhistāḍyamānānāṃ varāhamṛgapakṣiṇām

At the forest's edges were heard the many cries of boars, deer and birds calling out as the rain lashed them.

Verse 8 (3.184.8)

स्तोककाः शिखिनश्चैव पुंस्कोकिलगणैः सह । मत्ताः परिपतन्ति स्म दर्दुराश्चैव दर्पिताः ॥

stokakāḥ śikhinaścaiva puṃskokilagaṇaiḥ saha | mattāḥ paripatanti sma dardurāścaiva darpitāḥ

Chataka birds and peacocks, with flocks of male cuckoos, flew about in rapture, and the frogs grew bold.

Note on the text: Corrected दर्दुरश्चैव → दर्दुराश्चैव (misprint in Wikisource; a dropped ā-sign breaks the agreement with the plural दर्पिताः; the critical edition reads dardurāś caiva).

Verse 9 (3.184.9)

तदा बहुविधाकारा प्रावृण्मेघानुनादिता । अभ्यतीता शिवा तेषां चरतां मरुधन्वसु ॥

tadā bahuvidhākārā prāvṛṇmeghānunāditā | abhyatītā śivā teṣāṃ caratāṃ marudhanvasu

So the rainy season, many-formed and echoing with the rumble of clouds, passed pleasantly for them as they wandered over the dry uplands.

Verse 10 (3.184.10)

क्रौञ्चहंससमाकीर्णा शरत्प्रमुदिताऽभवत् । रूढकक्षवनप्रस्था प्रसन्नजलनिम्नगा ॥

krauñcahaṃsasamākīrṇā śaratpramuditā'bhavat | rūḍhakakṣavanaprasthā prasannajalanimnagā

Then came glad autumn, thronged with cranes and geese, its woods and slopes thick with grass and its rivers running clear.

Note on the text: Corrected प्रमुदीता → प्रमुदिता (misprint in Wikisource; a long ī for short i; the critical edition reads praṇihitābhavat here, a different word).

Verse 11 (3.184.11)

विमलाकाशनक्षत्रा शरत्तेषां शिवाऽभवत् । मृगद्विजसमाकीर्णा पाण्डवानां महात्मनाम् ॥

vimalākāśanakṣatrā śaratteṣāṃ śivā'bhavat | mṛgadvijasamākīrṇā pāṇḍavānāṃ mahātmanām

Autumn, with its clear sky and stars and its throngs of beasts and birds, was kind to the great-souled Pandavas.

Note on the text: Corrected शिवाऽभषत् → शिवाऽभवत् (misprint in Wikisource; ष for व; the critical edition reads śivābhavat).

Verse 12 (3.184.12)

दृश्यन्ते शान्तरजसः क्षपाजलदशीतलाः । ग्रहनक्षत्रसङ्घैश्च सोमेन च विराजिताः ॥

dṛśyante śāntarajasaḥ kṣapājaladaśītalāḥ | grahanakṣatrasaṅghaiśca somena ca virājitāḥ

The nights were seen free of dust, cooled by clouds, and shining with hosts of planets and stars and with the moon.

Verse 13 (3.184.13)

कुमुदैः पुण्डरीकैश्च शीतवारिधराः शिवाः । नदीः पुष्करिणीश्चैव ददृशुः समलंकृताः ॥

kumudaiḥ puṇḍarīkaiśca śītavāridharāḥ śivāḥ | nadīḥ puṣkariṇīścaiva dadṛśuḥ samalaṃkṛtāḥ

They saw lovely rivers and lotus ponds full of cool water, adorned with white lilies and lotuses.

Verse 14 (3.184.14)

आकाशनीकाशतटां नीपनीवारसंकुलाम् । बभूव चरतां हर्षः पुण्यतीर्थां सरस्वतीम् ॥

ākāśanīkāśataṭāṃ nīpanīvārasaṃkulām | babhūva caratāṃ harṣaḥ puṇyatīrthāṃ sarasvatīm

Joy filled them as they roamed beside the Sarasvati, with its holy fords, its banks like the open sky, and its thickets of kadamba trees and wild rice.

Note on the text: Restored from the critical edition (3.179.14): Wikisource's numbering jumps from 13 to 15 with no verse 14 on the page, and the next verse's "the brimming Sarasvati" assumes this verse, which introduces the river.

Verse 15 (3.184.15)

ते वै मुमुदिरे वीराः प्रसन्नसलिलां शिवाम् । पश्यन्तो दृढधन्वानः परिपूर्णां सरस्वतीम् ॥

te vai mumudire vīrāḥ prasannasalilāṃ śivām | paśyanto dṛḍhadhanvānaḥ paripūrṇāṃ sarasvatīm

Those heroes with their mighty bows rejoiced to see the lovely Sarasvati brimming full with clear water.

Verse 16 (3.184.16)

तेषां पुण्यतमा रात्रिः पर्वसन्धौ स्म शारदी । तत्रैव वसतामासीत्कार्तिकी जनमेजय ॥

teṣāṃ puṇyatamā rātriḥ parvasandhau sma śāradī | tatraiva vasatāmāsītkārtikī janamejaya

While they lived there, Janamejaya, the holiest of nights came to them: the autumn full moon of Karttika, at the joining of the fortnights.

Verse 17 (3.184.17)

पुण्यकृद्भिर्महासत्वैस्तापसैः सह पाण्डवाः । तत्सर्वं भरतश्रेष्ठ समूहुर्योगमुत्तमम् ॥

puṇyakṛdbhirmahāsatvaistāpasaiḥ saha pāṇḍavāḥ | tatsarvaṃ bharataśreṣṭha samūhuryogamuttamam

Together with the virtuous, great-spirited ascetics, best of the Bharatas, the Pandavas loaded all their belongings onto their fine carriages.

Verse 18 (3.184.18)

तमिस्राभ्युदये तस्मिन्धौम्येन सह पाण्डवाः । सूतैः पौरोगवैः साकं काम्यकं प्रययुर्वनम् ॥

tamisrābhyudaye tasmindhaumyena saha pāṇḍavāḥ | sūtaiḥ paurogavaiḥ sākaṃ kāmyakaṃ prayayurvanam

As the dark fortnight began, the Pandavas set out with Dhaumya, together with their charioteers and stewards, for the Kamyaka forest.