Shloka 3

वारुणी सभा — Varuṇa’s Divine Assembly

Nārada’s Description

Devanagari script

नीलपीतासितश्यामै: सितैलॉहितकैरपि । अवतानैस्तथा गुल्मैर्मज्जरीजालधारिभि:,उस सभाके भिन्न-भिन्न प्रदेश नीले-पीले, काले, सफेद और लाल रंगके लतागुल्मोंसे आच्छादित हैं। उन लताओंने मनोहर मंजरीपुंज धारण कर रखे हैं

Transliteration

nīlapītāsitaśyāmaiḥ sitailohitakair api | avatānaiḥ tathā gulmair mañjarījāladhāribhiḥ ||

Translation

Nārada describes the wondrous hall as being covered in different sections with creepers and shrubs of many hues—blue, yellow, dark, dusky, white, and red—each bearing charming clusters and nets of blossoms.

Word by Word

नीलपीतासितश्यामैःwith (things) of blue, yellow, black, and dark color

सितैःwith white (ones)

लोहितकैःwith reddish (ones)

अपिalso/even

अवतानेैःwith festoons/garlands/creepers (hanging decorations)

तथाand likewise

गुल्मैःwith shrubs/bushes

मज्जरीजालधारिभिःwith (those) bearing nets/clusters of flower-bunches

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

sabhā (royal assembly hall)

avatāna (creepers/vines)

gulma (shrubs)

mañjarī-jāla (networks of flower-clusters)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse primarily functions as vivid description rather than direct moral instruction; indirectly, it highlights how external magnificence and cultivated beauty can frame—and sometimes mask—deeper ethical and political tensions that unfold in the royal court.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is describing the assembly hall’s interior adornment: various areas are covered with multicolored creepers and shrubs, richly laden with attractive clusters of blossoms, emphasizing the hall’s extraordinary, almost enchanted grandeur.