उल्लासबहुलानन्तकल्लोलानलमाकुलान् । जडान् प्रवहति स्फारान् प्रावृषीव तरङ्गिणी ॥ २ ॥
ullāsabahulānantakallōlānalamākulān | jaḍān pravahati sphārān prāvṛṣīva taraṅgiṇī || 2 ||
Translation
As a river in the rains carries off its swollen waters, so she sweeps along the dull, swollen with pride and tossed by endless waves of elation.
Word by word
- ullāsa
- of elation
- bahula
- full
- ananta
- endless
- kallōlān
- with waves
- alam
- greatly
- ākulān
- tossed
- jaḍān
- the dull (or waters)
- pravahati
- she sweeps along
- sphārān
- swollen
- prāvṛṣi
- in the rains
- iva
- as
- taraṅgiṇī
- a river
Meaning
The first image is a river in flood. In the rains a river rises, leaps and carries everything with it. So does fortune with those who have it: they are "swollen" (sphāra) and "tossed" (ākula) by endless waves of ullāsa, excitement and elation, the rush of new plans and desires that wealth brings. The poet plays on jaḍa, "dull", which by an old convention of the poets (ḍa and la are one) also sounds as jala, "water": the river carries water, fortune carries fools. The point for the reader is that elation is not joy. The person carried by a flood feels movement and power, but is not going where they choose. Wealth that excites has already begun to steer.