ययातिपतनम् — Yayāti’s Fall and the Offer of Dharma
Nārada’s Account
वैदूर्याडकुरकल्पानि मृदूनि हरितानि च । चरन्तीश्लक्षणशष्पाणि तिक्तानि मधुराणि च
vaidūryāṅkurakalpāni mṛdūni haritāni ca | carantī ślakṣṇaśaṣpāṇi tiktāni madhurāṇi ca ||
वह वैदूर्यमणि के अंकुरों-सी कोमल, चिकनी, हरी घास चरती थी, जिसका स्वाद कहीं तिक्त तो कहीं मधुर था।
नारद उवाच
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).
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.