Shloka 18

प्रमदावनविध्वंसः | The Devastation of the Pleasure-Garden

Ashoka Vatika

Devanagari script

नानाशकुन्तविरुतैः प्रभिन्नैस्सलिलाशयैः।ताम्रैः किसलयैः क्लान्तै: क्लान्तद्रुमलतायुतम्।।5.41.17।।न बभौ तद्वनं तत्र दावानलहतं यथा।व्याकुलावरणा रेजुर्विह्वला इव ता लताः।।5.41.18।।

Transliteration

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 ||

Translation

同じ描写が繰り返される。鳥の叫びが乱れ、池は砕け、若芽はしおれ、その園は山火事に焼かれたかのようであった。蔓は、衣の乱れた嘆きの女のように震えた。

Word by Word

• na: not
• na: Nishedha (निषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation)

• babhau: appeared
• babhau: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √bhā (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदी—"shone/appeared"

• tad: that
• tad: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; qualifying vanam

• vanam: garden
• vanam: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; subject of babhau

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb) — "there"

• dāva-anala-hatam: burnt by forest-fire
• dāva-anala-hatam: Upameya (उपमेय)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dāva + anala + hata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुष—दावानलेन हतम् (struck/burnt by forest-fire); hata = √han (PPP)

• yathā: as if
• yathā: Upama (उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: yathā (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमार्थक-अव्यय (as/like)

• vyākula-āvaraṇāḥ: with disordered coverings
• vyākula-āvaraṇāḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vyākula + āvaraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; कर्मधारय—व्याकुलम् आवरणम् यासाम् (whose coverings/garments are disordered)

• rejuḥ: appeared
• rejuḥ: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √rāj (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपदी—"shone/appeared"

• vihvalāḥ: distressed
• vihvalāḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vihvala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; qualifying latāḥ

• iva: like
• iva: Upama (उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iva (अव्यय)
• Form: उपमार्थक-अव्यय

• tāḥ: those
• tāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; demonstrative—"those"

• latāḥ: creepers/vines
• latāḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: latā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन; subject of rejuḥ

Context

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.

Characters & Entities

• birds
• ponds
• creepers (latāḥ)

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

Repetition intensifies the moral atmosphere: adharma’s domain is portrayed as collapsing into fear and disorder, reinforcing the narrative’s ethical judgment.

What is the narrative situation?

A repeated pāṭha (as transmitted in this Southern Recension dataset) reiterates the grove’s ruined state and the trembling creepers simile.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Hanumān’s relentless momentum; also the epic’s didactic insistence that wrongdoing culminates in ruin.