Shloka 18
प्रमदावनविध्वंसः | The Devastation of the Pleasure-Garden
Ashoka Vatika
नानाशकुन्तविरुतैः प्रभिन्नैस्सलिलाशयैः।ताम्रैः किसलयैः क्लान्तै: क्लान्तद्रुमलतायुतम्।।5.41.17।।न बभौ तद्वनं तत्र दावानलहतं यथा।व्याकुलावरणा रेजुर्विह्वला इव ता लताः।।5.41.18।।
nānā-śakunta-virutaiḥ prabhinnais salilāśayaiḥ |
tāmraiḥ kisalayaiḥ klāntaiḥ klānta-druma-latā-yutam ||
na babhau tad vanaṃ tatra dāvānala-hataṃ yathā |
vyākulāvaraṇā rejur vihvalā iva tā latāḥ ||
Dengan aneka suara burung, kolam-kolam yang pecah, serta pucuk muda kemerahan bagai tembaga yang layu—dipenuhi pohon dan sulur yang letih—taman itu tak lagi bercahaya; seolah terbakar api rimba. Sulur-sulurnya gemetar, laksana perempuan yang resah dengan busana yang kacau.
The great garden lay disfigured, with the arbours and the picture galleries ruined, huge serpents and wild animals scattered, with stone houses and sheds destroyed.
FAQs
Repetition intensifies the moral atmosphere: adharma’s domain is portrayed as collapsing into fear and disorder, reinforcing the narrative’s ethical judgment.
A repeated pāṭha (as transmitted in this Southern Recension dataset) reiterates the grove’s ruined state and the trembling creepers simile.
Hanumān’s relentless momentum; also the epic’s didactic insistence that wrongdoing culminates in ruin.