Ṛtusaṃhāra 1.1 — Grīṣma, the hot season
प्रचण्डसूर्यः स्पृहणीयचन्द्रमाः
सदावगाहक्षतवारिसञ्चयः।
दिनान्तरम्योऽभ्युपशान्तमन्मथो
निदाघकालोऽयमुपागतः प्रिये॥
pracaṇḍa-sūryaḥ spṛhaṇīya-candramāḥ
sadāvagāha-kṣata-vāri-sañcayaḥ
dinānta-ramyo 'bhyupaśānta-manmatho
nidāgha-kālo 'yam upāgataḥ priye
Tap any word to see what it means and how it works in the line.
No word selected yet — choose one above and its meaning, grammar and root appear here.
The sun burns, the moon is something to long for, the pools are drained by endless bathing, the evenings are beautiful and even desire has cooled: the hot season is here, my love.
How the sense would be said plainly today.
Metre
Vaṃśastha
⏑ — ⏑ — — ⏑ ⏑ — ⏑ — ⏑ —
Twelve syllables with a quick alternating pulse. The whole first canto keeps this metre and the same final address, 'priye'.
— is a long beat, ⏑ a short one.
Why this verse matters
- The image
- Five compounds, five facts of the summer — and the last of them is not weather at all but the state of the lovers.
- The craft
- Almost the entire verse is a chain of bahuvrīhi compounds attached to one noun, 'nidāghakālaḥ'. The technique lets Kālidāsa hold five images in suspension until the season is finally named.
- The moment
- The opening of the six-season cycle. Every canto will end its verses with the same word: priye.
A short practice
Match each compound to the detail of summer it gives.