Shloka 8

ययातिपतनम् — Yayāti’s Fall and the Offer of Dharma

Nārada’s Account

Devanagari script

वैदूर्याडकुरकल्पानि मृदूनि हरितानि च । चरन्तीश्लक्षणशष्पाणि तिक्तानि मधुराणि च

Transliteration

vaidūryāṅkurakalpāni mṛdūni haritāni ca | carantī ślakṣṇaśaṣpāṇi tiktāni madhurāṇi ca ||

Translation

அவள் வைதூரிய மணியின் முளைகளைப் போன்ற மென்மையான, பசுமையான, மிருதுவான புல்லை மேய்ந்தாள்; அதன் சுவை ஒருபுறம் கசப்பும் மறுபுறம் இனிமையும் கொண்டது।

Word by Word

• वैदूर्य-अङ्कुर-कल्पानि: like sprouts of vaidūrya (cat's-eye gem)
• वैदूर्य-अङ्कुर-कल्पानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वैदूर्य + अङ्कुर + कल्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• मृदूनि: soft, tender
• मृदूनि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मृदु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• हरितानि: green
• हरितानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हरित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• चरन्ती: grazing / moving about
• चरन्ती: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर् (धातु)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular, शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त)

• ई-श्लक्षण-शष्पाणि: smooth, glossy young grasses (tender shoots)
• ई-श्लक्षण-शष्पाणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: ई + श्लक्षण + शष्प (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• तिक्तानि: bitter
• तिक्तानि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तिक्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• मधुराणि: sweet
• मधुराणि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मधुर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• vaidūrya (cat’s-eye gem)
• śaṣpa (tender grass)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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).

What is happening in the narrative?

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.