मन्दारकोशविश्रान्तभ्रमरद्वन्द्वनादिनी । मधुरामोदसौन्दर्यमुदितोन्मदमानवा ॥ १४ ॥
mandārakōśaviśrāntabhramaradvandvanādinī | madhurāmōdasaundaryamuditōnmadamānavā || 14 ||
Translation
It hummed with pairs of bees resting in the cups of mandāra flowers, and it delighted the people into a rapture with the beauty of its sweet fragrance;
Word by word
- mandāra
- of mandāra flowers
- kōśa
- in the cups
- viśrānta
- resting
- bhramara
- of bees
- dvandva
- with pairs
- nādinī
- it hummed
- madhura
- sweet
- āmōda
- of its fragrance
- saundarya
- with the beauty
- mudita
- delighted
- unmada
- into a rapture
- mānavā
- the people
Meaning
Verses 14 to 22 describe the rain of flowers, and they do so lavishly, as Sanskrit poetry does when it wants the reader to see. The mandāra is a tree of heaven; its blossoms fall with the bees still asleep in them, humming in pairs. The scent is so sweet and lovely that the people became, the commentary says, not their own: carried away (unmada). After twenty sargas of the faults of the world, the text gives nine verses of pure beauty. The contrast is deliberate. The dispassion Rāma has spoken of is not blindness to beauty; it is what makes beauty of this kind visible, a gift from beyond rather than a thing to be grasped. The reader may let the description be enjoyed without wanting anything from it.