Shloka 5

Dyumatsena’s Restoration and Sāvitrī’s Disclosure of Yama’s Boons (आरण्यकपर्व, अध्याय २८२)

Devanagari script

न कल्पवृक्षसदृशो यत्नादपि विभूषित: । श्मशानचैत्यद्रुमवद्‌ भूषितो5पि भयंकर:,उसने बड़े यत्नसे अपने-आपको वस्त्राभूषणोंद्वारा सजा रखा था, तो भी कल्पवृक्षके समान आह्वादजनक नहीं जान पड़ता था; अपितु श्मशानभूमिके चैत्यवृक्षकी भाँति भूषित होनेपर भी भयानक प्रतीत होता था

Transliteration

na kalpavṛkṣasadṛśo yatnād api vibhūṣitaḥ | śmaśānacaityadrumavad bhūṣito 'pi bhayaṅkaraḥ ||

Translation

衣と飾りをもってどれほど丹念に身を飾ろうとも、彼は願いを叶えるカल्प वृक्षのように人を悦ばせはしなかった。むしろ飾り立てられてなお、火葬場の霊樹のごとく恐ろしげに見えた。

Word by Word

नnot

कल्पवृक्षसदृशःsimilar to a wish-fulfilling tree

यत्नात्by/with effort

अपिeven/also

विभूषितःadorned, decorated

श्मशानचैत्यद्रुमवत्like a cemetery memorial-tree

भूषितःadorned

अपिeven

भयंकरःterrifying

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

kalpavṛkṣa (wish-fulfilling tree)

śmaśāna (cremation ground)

caityadruma (cemetery memorial tree)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External adornment cannot transform an inauspicious or frightening nature into something truly pleasing; ethical and inner qualities determine how one is perceived, not mere decoration.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya describes a figure who has dressed up elaborately, yet instead of appearing delightful like the kalpavṛkṣa, he seems ominous—evoking the eerie sanctity of a cemetery’s memorial tree.