Meghaduta 3

The Megha Dūta, or Cloud Messenger 3

Language: English

3

Having stood awhile before it, this sweet padanus fructifying cause, with suppressed tears, this servant of the King of Kings fell into a long meditation. “At the view of a Cloud the condition of a happy one becomes changed to a strong emotion; how much more that of a banished man longing to embrace the neck?”

3.n1

The time of the rains, according to Indian ideas, was the time dear to lovers. Thus, in the Ritu Sanhara, “ghanāgamah kamijanapriyah,” “The clouds approach, dear to lovers.” Vide Ritu Sanhara. Translated by the Author, Varsha, II–1.

3.n2

Behold the time of clouds surcharged with rain,
Like to a furious elephant they rise;
Or mighty monarch hurrying to the war;
In place of standards see the lightning’s flash,
And rolling thunder answers to the drum:
This is the time, my life, that’s dear to love.

3.n3

Thus if the happy lover was anxious at the sight of a cloud; how much more one in the condition of the Yaksha?

Linked texts (1)

Meghadūta — Kālidāsa, Sanskrit