Ixora coccinea (Jungle flame)
| A large, glabrous shrub. Leaves simple, opposite, decussate, elliptic, sessile, coriaceous. Flowers red, scarlet, or other shades, in corymbose cymes. Fruiut globose, fleshy, smooth. Flowering-fruiting major part of the year. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p644) |
|
नीपं दृष्ट्वा हरितकपिशं केसरैरर्धरूढैर् आविर्भूतप्रथममुकुलाः कन्दलीश्चानुकच्छम् । दग्धारण्येष्वधिकसुरभिं गन्धमाघ्राय चोर्व्याः सारङ्गास्ते जललवमुचः सूचयिष्यन्ति मार्गम् ॥ २१ ॥ Nīpas appear green and red with the half-grown stamens; ニーパの花の芯が半ば伸びて、緑と赤をなすのを |
After taking some water from the Revā river, in the cloud’s journey. Mallinātha (in Kale 1999: 41) lists Nīpa as Kadamba. Amara dictionary also lists thus, but in Riṭusaṁhāra, which is attributed to Kālidāsa, there is a verse that contains both Nīpa and Kadamba, as different flowers (Kimura 1962: 184). Confusion also arises from the word ‘harita’, whose colour ranges from yellow to green, and ‘kapiśa’ meaning ‘ape-colour’, which can range from orange to brown as well as red. Here I have followed Kimura’s suggestion and take Nīpa as the red Ixora coccinea flower. [Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.; Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.] |
|
हस्ते लीलाकमलमलकं बालकुन्दानुविद्धं नीता रोध्रप्रसवरजसा पण्डुतामाननश्रीः । चूदापाशे नवकुरबकं चारु कर्णे शिरीषं सीमन्ते च त्वदुपगमजं यत्र नीपं वधूनाम् ॥ ६५ ॥ There, in the women’s hand, is a red lotus to play with; 手には遊びの赤睡蓮[カマラ] 髪の一房は若きクンダの花で飾り |
A description of (the women in) the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā. Kimura (1962: 253) writes that they are flowers from different seasons but florishing all at once as this is a place of the demi-gods. [Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.] |
(c) Tomomi Sato 2013
Plants of Meghaduta 