श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 61

जी

जीवितावधि वनीयकमात्रैर्याच्यमानमखिलैः सुलभं यत् ।

अर्थिने परिवृढाय सुराणां किं वितीर्य परितुष्यतु चेतः ॥ (5, 81)

jévitävadhi vanéyakamätrairyäcyamänamakhilaiù sulabham yat ।

arthine parivåòhäya suräëäm kim vitérya parituñyatu cetaù ॥

दमयन्तीस्वयम्वरार्थं गच्छन्तः सुराः, मार्गे नलं दृष्ट्वा तमुद्दिश्य प्रार्थितवन्तः । तदा तेषां वचनानि श्रुत्वा नलः एवम् अचिन्तयत्- 'समस्तैरपि पात्रलक्षणरहितैः याचकैः प्राणपर्यन्तं याचितं यद्वस्तु मत्सकाशात् सुलभतया लभ्यते । परन्तु इदानीं याचकाय सुराणां प्रभवे इन्द्राय किं दत्वा मम च अन्तःकरणं सन्तुष्टं भवतु।'

The above verse is from sri Harsa’s Naishadham.

The gods meet Nala on the way as he proceeds to the city of kundina to attend Damayanti’s svayamavara. They greet Nala and announce that they have a favour to ask him. Nala’s heart overflows with sentiments of generosity and self sacrifice at the thought of gods coming to him as suppliants.

He says – ‘As anybody who seeks a favour from me will easily receive anything that he asks for up to my life, but now by giving which gift will my heart be content when the suppliant is the lord of gods?’

अखिलैः – By all, वनीयकमात्रैः – those who beg, याच्यमानं- by seeking, सुलभं यत्-easily , जीवितावधि – up to one’s life ,अर्थिने – one who seeks , सुराणां – of the gods, परिवृढाय- to the lord , किं वितीर्य- by giving , चेतः – my mind , परितुष्यतु – will be happy.

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 57

छे

छेत्तुमिन्दौ भवद्वक्त्रबिम्बविभ्रमविभ्रमम् ।

शङ्के शशाङ्कमानङ्के भिन्नभिन्नविधिर्विधिः ॥

Tha above sloka is from the twentieth canto of sri Harsha’s naishadeeya charitam.

In the above sloka Nala describes the beauty of Damayanti.He says ‘ Oh ! Damayanti, the creator, during his creation, has differentiated between object to object and person to person’.

And he further says ‘ I think the moon was also created with a black spot in order to remove the confusion between the moon and your shining face’.

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 56

छि
छिन्नमप्यतनु हारमण्डलं मुग्धया सुरतलास्यकेलिभिः ।
न व्यतर्किं सुदृशा चिरादपि स्वेदबिन्दुकितवक्षसा हृदि ॥ (18, 107)

The above sloka is from the eighteenth canto of sri Harsha’s ‘naishadiya charitam’.

The eighteenth canto starts with a description of nala’s palace but the main portion of this canto describes the love sport between Nala and Damayanti. The above verse is one from the same canto where the intimacy between the couple has been poetically fancied by the poet sri Harsha

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 50

चु

चुलुकिततमः सिन्धोर्भृङ्गैः करादिव शुभ्यते

नभसि बिसिनीबन्धोरन्ध्रच्युतैरुदबिन्दुभिः ।

शतदलमधुस्रोतःकच्छद्वयीपरिरम्भणा-

दनुपदमदःपङ्काशङ्काममी मम तन्वते ॥

culukitatamaù sidhorbåìgaiù karädiva çubhyate

nabhasi bisinibandhorandhracyutairudabindubhiù

çatadalamadhusrotaùkaccdvayéparirambhanä

danupadamadaùpaìkaçaìkämamé mama tanvate

The above verse is from the 19^th canto of naishadiya charitam of sri Harsha.

In the above verse the poet says “the bees shine in the sky like water drops falling from the sky. Then by clinging to the two sides of the nectar dripping from the lotus, the bees give me an impression of mosses floating on top of an ocean”.

Sun heats the water from the ocean and showers it as rain. Here, The poet describes that the sun drinks the ocean of darkness through his palm and showers as water drops through the space between his fingers and metamorphically compares the bees on the sky to the water drops.

Sun चुलुकित-drank, तमः- the darkness, सिन्धोः- of the ocean, करात्- through his palm, बिसिनीबन्धोः- sun (बिसिनी-lotus, बन्धोः- friend),रन्ध्र- space between the fingers, च्युतैः- dropped, उदबिन्दुभिः- water drops, इव- like, भृङ्गाः-the bees, नभसि- in the sky, शुभ्यते- shine ।

अनुपदं- after this, शतदल- lotus (शत- hundred, दल – petals; the flower with hundred petals) ,मधुस्रोतः- the flow of nectar, कच्छद्वयी- both the sides, परिरम्भणात्- clinging, अमी- these bees, पङ्कशङ्कां मम तन्वते - give me the impression that they are the mosses.

The sun rises destroying the darkness, the bees come out of their nest and proceed towards the lotuses to relish the nectar. This is a very normal scenario. But the secret of the magic spell present in the words of a poet can change a normal scenario into a commendable description.

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 43

घा
घातितार्कसुतकर्णदयालुर्जैत्रितेन्दुकुलपार्थकृतार्थः।
अर्धदुःखसुखमभ्यनयस्त्वं सास्रुभानुविहसद्विधुनेत्रः ॥ (21, 83)

ghätitärkasutakarëadayäluù jetritendukulapärthakrtärthaù

ardhadukkhasukhamabhyanayastvam säsrubhänuvihasadvidhunetraù

हे विष्णो ! सूर्यचन्द्रयोः तव नेत्रत्वात् तथा कर्णस्य च सूर्यपुत्रत्वात् तन्नाशे सूर्यस्य शोको अभवत्। अर्जुनस्य चन्द्रवंशस्थत्वात् तस्य विजये चन्द्रः सुखमन्वभवत्। ताभ्याम् अर्धसुखमर्धदुःखाभिनयात् त्वम् अद्भुतरूपोऽसि।

The above sloka is from naishadIya charitam of srI Harsha.

Lord visnu is praised in the above sloka.

Mahavisnu’s two eyes are Chandra and surya. One eye of visnu started watering in grief while the other glowed with pride. In the kurukshetra battle, when Arjuna kills karna as adviced by lord Krishna, Chandra beams with pride as Arjuna belongs to the Chandra vamsa. And
Surya weeps in grief as karna is his son.

अर्कसुतः-son of surya, कर्णः-karna, दयालुः-the compassionate one, घातितः- killed in the battle, इन्दुकुलपार्थः- pArtha or arjuna , who belongs to the Chandra vamsa, जैत्रितः –was given the victory, कृतार्थः- by this the purpose of Krishna avataara is fulfilled, त्वं – you lord visnu, नेत्रः- your eyes, अभ्यनयः – were showing both, अर्धसुखं- happiness,and अर्धदुःखं-sorrow, ( the eyes of lord visnu are surya nad Chandra) भानुः –the sun , सास्रुः- was with tears (as his son karna was killed in the battle), विधुः – , Chandra, विहसत् – was smiling( as arjuna got the victory), ।

The victory of Arjuna and the death of karna is a known story. But the poet has imagined and brought it out in a creatively unique point of view.

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 25

कौ
कौमारमारभ्य गणाः गुणानां
हरन्ति ते दिक्षु धृताधिपत्यान् ।
सुराधिराजं सलिलाधिपं च
हुताशनं चार्यमनन्दनं च ।। ( 8, 58 )

kaumāramārabhya gaṇāḥ guṇānāṁ haranti te dikṣu dhutādhipatyān|
surādhirājaṁ salilādhipaṁ ca hutāśanaṁ cāryamanandanaṁ ca||

हे भैमि, बाल्यादारभ्य ते सौन्दर्यशीलत्वादीनां गुणानां गणाः देवेन्द्रादीन् हरन्ति। त्वत् गुणाकर्णनात् इन्द्राग्नियमवरुणाः इति चत्वारोऽपि त्वयि अनुरक्ताः भवन्ति।

The above is from the eighth canto of naishadIya charitam of srI harasha.

The context here is: Nala, as a messenger of gods, meets damayantI in her garden. He says, ‘O! damayantI since your childhood your virtues have attracted the lords of various directions – indra, varuNa, agni and yama.

O! damayantI , कौमारमारभ्य - from childhood , ते गुणानां गणाः – your qualities like good conduct etc., दिक्षु – direction, धृताधिपत्यान् – lords, हरन्ति – attracts the mind.
(who are the lords?) They are सुराधिराजं – indra, the king of the devas, सलिलाधिपं – varuNa, हुताशनं – agni , अर्यम्नः- of sUrya, नन्दनं- son yama.

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 20

कू
कूटकायमपहाय नो वपुर्बिभ्रतस्त्वमसि वीक्ष्य विस्मिता ।
आप्तुमाकृतिमतो मनीषितां विद्यया हृदि तवाप्युदीयताम्।। ( 14, 94)

kūṭakāyamapahāya vapuḥ bibhrataḥ tvamasi vīkṣya vismitāḥ|
āptum ākṛtimato manīṣitāṁ vidyayā hṛdi tavāpi udīyatām||

हे भैमी, स्वेच्छामात्रेण मायानलशरीरं त्यक्त्वा निजं वपुः धारयतः अस्मान् वीक्ष्य त्वं विस्मिताऽसि। अतः स्वेच्छानुसारं शरीरं प्राप्तुं, तवापि शक्तिः उत्पद्यताम् ।

This is the 94th sloka from the fourteenth canto of naishadIya charitam of srI harsha.
The context here is: the swayamwara of DamayantI takes place. The devas Indra, varuNa, agni and yama went in the disguise of nala. But DamayantI correctly identifies nala and chooses him as her husband. The devas blessed her with the following words- ‘Oh DamayantI you look astonished to see us taking our original form discarding our disguise. You will have the boon to transform yourself into anything which you desire.’

कूटकायमपहाय - discarding the disguise, बिभ्रतः – taking the , वपुः – original form , नः – us , वीक्ष्य- seeing, हे भैमी – oh DamayantI, त्वम्- you , विस्मिताऽसि- (you are ) astonished,

अतो - Therefore ,विद्यया – by the knowledge, हृदि – in your mind, मनीषितां - desired, आकृतिम्- form, आप्तुम् – to get, तवापि- for you also, उदीयताम् – let it happen.

The poet srI Harsha beautifully explains that the greatness of devas lie in their ability to bestow virtues on ordinary people.

श्लोकोऽयं मह्यं रोचते – 18

की
कीर्तिं भैमीं वरं चास्मै दातुमेवागमन्नमी ।
न लीढे धीर वैदग्धीं धीरगम्भीरगाहिनी।। (17, 134)

kīrtiṁ bhamīṁ varaṁ cāsmai dātumevāgamannamī|
na līḍhe dhīra vaidagdhīṁ dhīragambhiragāhinī||

नलः भैमीं कामयमानोऽपि देवाद्यर्थं दूत्यं अकरोत्। एवं विधोऽतिधीरः कोपि नास्तीति यशः, दमयन्तीमिति द्वौ वरौ ऩलाय दातुमेव देवाः स्वयंवरं अगच्छन्, न तु भैमीं वरितुम्। कलिः तु इमं विषयं न वेत्ति, यतः, येषां गम्भीरार्थग्राहिणी न भवति तादृश मूढानां बुद्धिः महाशयानां चातुरीं न वेत्ति।

The above sloka is from the seventeenth canto and 134th verse of NaishadIya charitam of srI Harsha.
The context here is: The devas- indra, agni, Yama and VaruNa were returning from the swayamvara of DamayantI. On their way they met kali, who disdainfully announces his desire towards Damayanti. But the devas said that DamayantI has already chosen nala, ignoring the rests. Unable to tolerate the news, kali burst out in anger, abusing the devas and nala.
On hearing the ludicrous rant of kali, goddess saraswati says these words- ‘The devas went to the swayamvara not with the intention of marrying DamayantI. But, only to bless DamayantI and nala and also to give them fame and happiness.
The goddess saraswatI says that the
'The actions or the intentions of an intellectual can be understood only by a discerning individual.’

अमी –The devas, आगमन् – came ,एव- only , दातुम्- to give, कीर्तिं- fame, भैमीं- DamyantI, च- and, वरं- boon, अस्मै-to nala .
धीः – The mind,
अगम्भीर गाहिनी ( न गम्भीर गाहिनी) – that cannot understand real intentions, न लीढे- cannot comprehend,
वैदग्धीम्- The ideas , धीर- of great men.

On a personal note: This sloka is not only for kali, but it is also for the readers of naishadIya charitam. Because it is really difficult to understand the style of srI Harsha by reading it once. Usage of rare dhaatus in the slokas makes the reader refer the grammar texts.