शान्तसंकल्पमत्ताभ्रभीषणाशनिशब्दवत् । विस्मृतस्वप्नसंकल्पनिर्माणनगरोपमा ॥ ३६ ॥
śāntasaṁkalpamattābhrabhīṣaṇāśaniśabdavat | vismṛtasvapnasaṁkalpanirmāṇanagarōpamā || 36 ||
Translation
like the sound of thunder from a raging cloud whose purpose has been stilled, like a city built in a dream and imagined, then forgotten,
Word by word
- śānta
- stilled
- saṁkalpa
- whose purpose; imagined
- matta
- raging
- abhra
- from a cloud
- bhīṣaṇa
- fearful
- aśani
- of thunder
- śabda
- the sound
- vat
- like
- vismṛta
- forgotten
- svapna
- in a dream
- nirmāṇa
- built
- nagara
- a city
- upamā
- like
Meaning
The commentary reads the first image as a cloud like a wild elephant whose thunder was a fancy that has now ceased. A forgotten dream-city is the faintest of all: neither present nor even remembered.