श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । भूतलाप्सरसा सार्धमनन्यदयितापतिः । अकृत्रिमप्रेमरसं स रेमे कान्तया तया ॥ १ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | bhūtalāpsarasā sārdhamananyadayitāpatiḥ | akṛtrimaprēmarasaṁ sa rēmē kāntayā tayā || 1 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: With that apsaras of the earth, his beloved, the lord who loved no other took his delight in the unfeigned joy of love,
Word by word
- bhūtala
- of the earth
- apsarasā
- with the apsaras
- sārdham
- with
- ananya
- who loved no other
- dayitā
- beloved
- patiḥ
- the lord
- akṛtrima
- unfeigned
- prēma
- of love
- rasaṁ
- in the joy
- sa
- (saḥ) he
- rēmē
- took his delight
- kāntayā
- his beloved
- tayā
- with her
Meaning
The commentary heads the sarga: however much pleasures are enjoyed, they never satisfy, and in the end sorrow remains; even if the gods wished to make pleasure satisfy and sorrow vanish, they could not succeed, let alone others. That is what the tale is about to show. Līlā was devoted to her husband and loved no one else; King Padma, with her, "an apsaras of the earth", delighted in love with no pretence in it. The verse opens a sentence that runs to verse 17: a catalogue of places and pleasures, in the kāvya manner, all governed by "he took his delight". The fullness of the list is the point: everything a life of pleasure could hold, before the sorrow comes.