Shloka 10
प्रावृट्-शरत्-वर्णनम् — Description of the Monsoon and Autumn; Sarasvatī in the Pāṇḍavas’ Exile
उन वृक्षोंसे सुशोभित प्रदेशों तथा वैदूर्यमणिके समान रंगवाले, हिमसदृश स्वच्छ, शीतल सलिल-समूहसे संयुक्त पर्वतीय नदियोंकी शोभा निहारते हुए वे सब ओर घूमते थे। नदियोंकी उस जलराशिमें हंस और कारण्डव आदि सहसौरों पक्षी किलोलें करते थे ।।
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | te vṛkṣaiḥ suśobhitān pradeśān vaidūryamaṇisamānarāgān himasadṛśaśucīn śītala-salila-samūhaiḥ saṃyuktāḥ parvatīya-nadīḥ śobhāṃ niharantas sarvato vicacāraḥ | tāsāṃ nadīnāṃ jalāśaye haṃsāḥ kāraṇḍavādayaś ca sahasraśaḥ pakṣiṇaḥ kilolam akurvan || vanāni devadārūṇāṃ meghānām iva vāgurāḥ | haricandanamiśrāṇi tuṅgakālīyakāny api ||
Vaiśampāyana said: They wandered in every direction, gazing upon mountain rivers joined to clear, cool masses of water—pure as snow and gleaming with a hue like the vaidūrya gem—flowing through regions made beautiful by trees. In those waters, thousands upon thousands of birds—swans and kāraṇḍavas and others—made lively calls and sported. And the lofty forests of deodāra, mixed with fragrant haricandana and with tuṅga and kālīyaka trees as well, appeared like nets set to catch the clouds—so dense and high were they.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage foregrounds a dharmic sensibility of attentiveness and restraint: even amid hardship, one cultivates clarity and steadiness by contemplating purity, order, and beauty in nature—cool waters, clear streams, and harmonious life—rather than being consumed by agitation.
The narrator describes the travelers moving about through scenic mountain terrain, observing clear, cool rivers filled with waterfowl, and passing lofty deodāra forests mixed with fragrant trees, poetically likened to nets that could catch the clouds.