मर्यादापालनाम्भोधिर्द्विषत्तिमिरभास्करः । कान्ताकुमुदिनीचन्द्रो दोषतृणहुताशनः ॥ २० ॥
maryādāpālanāmbhōdhirdviṣattimirabhāskaraḥ | kāntākumudinīcandrō dōṣatṛṇahutāśanaḥ || 20 ||
Translation
An ocean in keeping bounds, a sun to the darkness of his enemies, a moon to the night-lily of his beloved, a fire to the grass of faults;
Word by word
- maryādā
- bounds
- pālana
- in keeping
- ambhōdhir
- (ambhodhiḥ) an ocean
- dviṣat
- of his enemies
- timira
- to the darkness
- bhāskaraḥ
- a sun
- kāntā
- of his beloved
- kumudinī
- to the night-lily
- candrō
- (candraḥ) a moon
- dōṣa
- of faults
- tṛṇa
- to the grass
- hutāśanaḥ
- a fire
Meaning
The commentary on verses 20 to 24 unfolds each image: as the ocean keeps to its shore and never oversteps it, so he kept the bounds of class and stage of life; as the sun destroys darkness, so he destroyed his enemies; as the moon makes the night-lily bloom, so he gladdened his queen; as fire burns grass to ash, so he was the foe of faults. The praise of the king is in the kāvya manner: one quality to each image, the images in a row.