निरभ्रोत्पलसङ्काशव्योमवृष्टिरनाकुला । अदृष्टपूर्वा सर्वस्य जनस्य जनितस्मया ॥ २१ ॥
nirabhrōtpalasaṅkāśavyōmavṛṣṭiranākulā | adṛṣṭapūrvā sarvasya janasya janitasmayā || 21 ||
Translation
a rain from a sky clear as a blue lotus, without a cloud, unhurried, never seen before, it raised wonder in all the people;
Word by word
- nirabhra
- without a cloud
- utpala
- as a blue lotus
- saṅkāśa
- clear
- vyōma
- from a sky
- vṛṣṭir
- (vṛṣṭiḥ) a rain
- anākulā
- unhurried
- adṛṣṭa
- never seen
- pūrvā
- before
- sarvasya
- in all
- janasya
- the people
- janita
- it raised
- smayā
- wonder
Meaning
The wonder is that the sky is cloudless (nirabhra), clear and blue as a blue lotus, and yet it rains, and rains flowers, gently (anākulā). No one had seen anything like it (adṛṣṭa-pūrvā). A rain without a cloud is a rain with no visible cause, and that is what grace looks like in the old texts: a gift whose source cannot be seen. The reader may think of something good that came to them without a reason they could name.