Shloka 11
Trikūṭa Mountain, Ṛtumat Garden, and the Beginning of Gajendra’s Crisis
तस्य द्रोण्यां भगवतो वरुणस्य महात्मन: । उद्यानमृतुमन्नाम आक्रीडं सुरयोषिताम् ॥ ९ ॥ सर्वतोऽलङ्कृतं दिव्यैर्नित्यपुष्पफलद्रुमै: । मन्दारै: पारिजातैश्च पाटलाशोकचम्पकै: ॥ १० ॥ चूतै: पियालै: पनसैराम्रैराम्रातकैरपि । क्रमुकैर्नारिकेलैश्च खर्जूरैर्बीजपूरकै: ॥ ११ ॥ मधुकै: शालतालैश्च तमालैरसनार्जुनै: । अरिष्टोडुम्बरप्लक्षैर्वटै: किंशुकचन्दनै: ॥ १२ ॥ पिचुमर्दै: कोविदारै: सरलै: सुरदारुभि: । द्राक्षेक्षुरम्भाजम्बुभिर्बदर्यक्षाभयामलै: ॥ १३ ॥
tasya droṇyāṁ bhagavato varuṇasya mahātmanaḥ udyānam ṛtuman nāma ākrīḍaṁ sura-yoṣitām
In a valley of Trikūṭa Mountain stood a divine garden named Ṛtumat. It belonged to the great Varuṇa and served as a playground for the celestial maidens. Adorned on every side with trees that bore flowers and fruits in every season, it was rich with mandāras, pārijātas, pāṭalas, aśokas, campakas, cūtas, piyālas, jackfruits, mangoes and many other trees.
FAQs
It describes Varuṇa’s divine pleasure-garden as richly adorned with many fruit-bearing trees—mango, jackfruit, areca, coconut, date, and citron—indicating celestial abundance and splendor.
He is setting the sacred scene of the lake and surrounding divine grove where the episode unfolds, highlighting the extraordinary, celestial setting in which Gajendra’s surrender and the Lord’s grace are revealed.
By seeing nature as the Lord’s arrangement and cultivating gratitude and reverence—using beauty and abundance not for pride, but to remember the Supreme and deepen devotion.