Meghadūta 1.3
तस्य स्थित्वा कथमपि पुरः कौतुकाधानहेतो-
रन्तर्बाष्पश्चिरमनुचरो राजराजस्य दध्यौ।
मेघालोके भवति सुखिनोऽप्यन्यथावृत्ति चेतः
कण्ठाश्लेषप्रणयिनि जने किं पुनर्दूरसंस्थे॥
tasya sthitvā katham api puraḥ kautukādhāna-hetor
antar-bāṣpaś ciram anucaro rājarājasya dadhyau
meghāloke bhavati sukhino 'py anyathā-vṛtti cetaḥ
kaṇṭhāśleṣa-praṇayini jane kiṃ punar dūra-saṃsthe
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He stood before the cloud, barely holding himself together, tears unshed, and thought for a long time. Even a contented man feels his heart shift when he sees a cloud — what then of a man whose beloved, who longs to hold him, is far away?
How the sense would be said plainly today.
Metre
Mandākrāntā
— — — — | ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ ⏑ — | — ⏑ — — ⏑ — —
The fourth line's a fortiori turn ('how much more…') lands on the metre's slow closing steps.
— is a long beat, ⏑ a short one.
Why this verse matters
- The image
- 'Tears within' (antar-bāṣpa) — the whole grief of the poem is a held thing, never spilled.
- The craft
- The last two lines step out of the story into a general truth, then return to the particular case. This is arthāntaranyāsa, the corroboration of a specific situation by a universal statement — Kālidāsa's favourite closing move.
- The moment
- Just before he decides to speak to the cloud. This is the hesitation.
A short practice
What does the last line add to the general statement in the third line?