Kumārasambhava 5.86
अद्यप्रभृत्यवनताङ्गि तवास्मि दासः
क्रीतस्तपोभिरिति वादिनि चन्द्रमौलौ।
अह्नाय सा नियमजं क्लममुत्ससर्ज
क्लेशः फलेन हि पुनर्नवतां विधत्ते॥
adya-prabhṛty avanatāṅgi tavāsmi dāsaḥ
krītas tapobhir iti vādini candramaulau
ahnāya sā niyamajaṃ klamam utsasarja
kleśaḥ phalena hi punar-navatāṃ vidhatte
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'From today I am yours,' said Śiva, the moon in his hair, 'your penance has bought me.' At those words Pārvatī's long exhaustion fell away in an instant — because suffering, once it bears fruit, is remade as something else.
How the sense would be said plainly today.
Metre
Vasantatilakā
— — ⏑ — ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ — —
Fourteen syllables with a light, springing middle — the metre of spring, used here for a reversal of fortune.
— is a long beat, ⏑ a short one.
Why this verse matters
- The image
- The commercial metaphor is startling and exact: क्रीतः, 'bought'. Devotion is not begging; it is purchase.
- The craft
- The verse ends on a maxim — suffering renewed by its fruit — that reframes the entire canto of austerity we have just read.
- The moment
- The climax of Pārvatī's penance. Śiva, who has tested her in disguise, finally speaks as himself.
A short practice
Put the verse's four movements in order.