Shloka 8

ययातिपतनम् — Yayāti’s Fall and the Offer of Dharma

Nārada’s Account

Devanagari script

वैदूर्याडकुरकल्पानि मृदूनि हरितानि च । चरन्तीश्लक्षणशष्पाणि तिक्तानि मधुराणि च,इस क्रमसे माधवी वैदूर्यमणिके अंकुरोंके समान सुशोभित, कोमल, चिकनी, तिक्त, मधुर एवं हरी-हरी घास चरती, पवित्र नदियोंके शुद्ध, शीतल, निर्मल एवं सुस्वादु जल पीती और मृगोंके आवासभूत, व्याप्ररहित एवं दावानलशून्य निर्जन वनोंमें मृगोंके साथ वनचारिणी मृगीकी भाँति विचरण करती थी। उसने ब्रह्मचर्यपालनपूर्वक महान्‌ धर्मका आचरण किया

Transliteration

vaidūryāṅkurakalpāni mṛdūni haritāni ca | carantī ślakṣṇaśaṣpāṇi tiktāni madhurāṇi ca ||

Translation

Narada said: “She grazed on tender, smooth blades of grass—green and soft—resembling sprouts of vaidūrya (cat’s-eye gem), tasting at once mildly bitter and sweet.”

Word by Word

वैदूर्य-अङ्कुर-कल्पानिlike sprouts of vaidūrya (cat's-eye gem)

मृदूनिsoft, tender

हरितानिgreen

चand

चरन्तीgrazing / moving about

ई-श्लक्षण-शष्पाणिsmooth, glossy young grasses (tender shoots)

तिक्तानिbitter

मधुराणिsweet

चand

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

vaidūrya (cat’s-eye gem)

śaṣpa (tender grass)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses refined natural imagery to underscore a life of restraint and purity: simple sustenance, gentle conduct, and harmony with nature are presented as supports for dharmic living (especially brahmacarya and disciplined self-control in the wider passage).

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes the woman’s forest-like mode of life through a vivid detail: she grazes on tender, smooth, green grasses likened to vaidūrya sprouts, with tastes both bitter and sweet—an image that situates her in an austere, nature-bound existence.