Shloka 11
आकाशमेघवर्णनम् / Description of the Sky Filled with Rain-Clouds
महानदीभिर्बलद्वीभिस्तत्र तत्र सहस्रश: । आपूर्यमाणमत्यर्थ नृत्यन्तमिव चोर्मिभि:,बहुत-सी बड़ी-बड़ी नदियाँ सहस्रोंकी संख्यामें आकर उसमें यत्र-तत्र मिलतीं और उसे अधिकाधिक भरती रहती थीं। वह भुजाओंके समान ऊँची लहरोंको ऊपर उठाये नृत्य-सा कर रहा था
mahānadībhir baladvībhis tatra tatra sahasraśaḥ | āpūryamāṇam atyarthaṁ nṛtyantam iva cormibhiḥ ||
Śaunaka describes a vast body of water being fed from every side: countless great rivers, along with powerful streams and channels, flowed in from place to place and kept filling it more and more. Swelling with force, it seemed to dance as its waves rose high like uplifted arms—an image of nature’s overwhelming energy and ceaseless motion within the ordered world.
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse primarily offers a vivid simile: nature’s immense forces appear animated, yet they follow an intelligible pattern—many rivers converging to fill a larger expanse. It supports the epic’s broader sensibility that the world’s power can be awe-inspiring while still operating within an underlying order.
Śaunaka is describing a great water-body (such as a sea or vast river-system) into which thousands of large rivers and strong currents merge from many directions, continually increasing its fullness; the waves rise like arms, making it look as though it is dancing.