Shloka 3

Devanagari script

हरिताम्बुजसंच्छन्नां दिव्यां कनकपुष्कराम्‌ । नानापक्षिजनाकीर्णा सूपतीर्थामकर्दमाम्‌

Transliteration

haritāmbujasaṃchannāṃ divyāṃ kanakapuṣkarām | nānāpākṣijanākīrṇāṃ sūpatīrthām akardamām ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “(They beheld) a divine lotus-lake, its surface covered with green lotuses, shining with golden lotus-flowers; thronged with many kinds of birds and creatures, furnished with excellent bathing-places, and free from mud.”

Word by Word

• हरिताम्बुज-संच्छन्नाम्: covered with green lotuses
• हरिताम्बुज-संच्छन्नाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हरिताम्बुजसंच्छन्न (हरित + अम्बुज + संच्छन्न)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• दिव्याम्: divine, splendid
• दिव्याम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दिव्य
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कनक-पुष्कराम्: the golden-lotus lake (Pushkarā)
• कनक-पुष्कराम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कनकपुष्करा (कनक + पुष्करा)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• नाना-पक्षि-जन-आकीर्णाम्: filled with various flocks of birds
• नाना-पक्षि-जन-आकीर्णाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नानापक्षिजनाकीर्ण (नाना + पक्षि + जन + आकीर्ण)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• सु-उपतीर्थाम्: having good/pleasant fords (bathing-places)
• सु-उपतीर्थाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सूपतीर्था (सु + उपतीर्था)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• अकर्दमाम्: free from mud
• अकर्दमाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अकर्दमा (a- + कर्दम)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• puṣkara (lotus-lake)
• ambuja (lotuses)
• pakṣi (birds)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds purity and auspiciousness through landscape: a clear, mudless lake with good bathing-places suggests a setting fit for restraint, reflection, and dharmic conduct—outer cleanliness mirroring inner clarity.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a wondrous lotus-lake—green with lotuses, gleaming with golden blooms, alive with birds and other beings, and offering fine, clean access points—setting the scene for the events of this section of the Vana Parva.