Shloka 1.32.12
कुशवंशवर्णनम् — The Line of Kuśa and the Disfigurement of Kuśanābha’s Daughters by Vāyu
तास्तु यौवनशालिन्यो रूपवत्य स्स्वलङ्कृता:।उद्यानभूमिमागम्य प्रावृषीव शतह्रदा:।।।।गायन्त्यो नृत्यमानाश्च वादयन्त्यश्च सर्वश:।आमोदं परमं जग्मुर्वराभरणभूषिता:।।।।
tās tu yauvanaśālinyo rūpavatyaḥ svalaṅkṛtāḥ | udyānabhūmim āgamya prāvṛṣīva śatahradāḥ || 1.32.12 ||
gāyantyo nṛtyamānāś ca vādayantyaś ca sarvaśaḥ | āmodaṃ paramaṃ jagmur varābharaṇabhūṣitāḥ || 1.32.13 ||
Those maidens—radiant with youth, beautiful and well-adorned—went to the garden grounds, gleaming like lightning in the rainy season. Decked with splendid ornaments, they sang, danced, and played instruments, moving about in every direction, absorbed in the highest delight.
Those well-adorned, beautiful, young maidens in the pleasure-garden looked like lightnings in the rainy season. Bedecked with fine ornaments they were singing, dancing, playing on instruments and moving in all directions in great delight.
While primarily descriptive, the dharmic undertone is that beauty and joy exist within social order; the scene sets the stage for later moral testing—how others respond to beauty reveals their dharma or adharma.
The story depicts Kuśanābha’s daughters enjoying themselves in a garden—singing, dancing, and making music—before the conflict involving Vāyu arises in the larger episode.
Innocent joy and refinement; the daughters are portrayed as cultured and harmonious, heightening the ethical contrast when coercion or violence later appears.