Global citizen is nothing new.
There were always, for sure, persons
who could only live corss-border.
You may call me a betrayer;
but I wish to live oceanic,
in sympathy with every land.
(Yet I don't wish to travel much,
but live with the soil I will love).
A medium-sized to large tree, 15-30 m in height with smooth light grey bark having dark patches; leaves simple, opposite, variable in shape, about 2.5 cm broad about 7.5-15 cm long, acuminate, nerves joining in a distinct intermarginal nerve, gland-dotted, smooth and shiny; flowers greenish-white in trichotomous panicles; fruits oblong or ovoid-oblong, dark purple with pinkish juicy pulp; one-seeded. Flowering-fruiting February to July. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.4 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p1082)
तस्यास्तिक्तैर्वनगजमदैर्वासितं वान्तवृष्टिर्
जम्बूकुञ्जप्रतिहतरयं तोयमादाय गच्छेः ।
अन्तःसारं घन तुलयितुं नानिलः शक्ष्यति त्वां
रिक्तः सर्वो भवति हि लघुः पूर्णता गौरवाय ॥ २० ॥
The river’s current is fragrant from the bitter passion of the wild elephants;
The Jambū bush is obstructing the stream and storing water;
You are exhausted from giving rain, so take the water from there and go.
O dense and dark, now that you have the engine inside, the wind cannot lift you up.
All what are empty will be regarded light, and what is full shall be given weight. (20)
At the Revā river, in the cloud’s journey. Jambū here is serving like a boul or a glass for the cloud to drink water. I have translated ‘passion’ but the term Mada actually also has a specific meaning of “an ichorous fluid exuding from the temples of elephants in rut” (Kale 1999: 40). It seems to me that the powerfulness of the now-full cloud may derive partly from the sexual scent added to the water.
[Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited]
पाण्डुच्छायोपवनवृतयः केतकैः सूचिभिन्नैर्
नीडारम्भैर्गृहबलिभुजामाकुलग्रामचैत्याः ।
त्वय्यासन्ने परिणतफलश्यामजम्बूवनान्ताः
संपत्स्यन्ते कतिपयदिनस्थायिहंसा दशार्णाः ॥ २३ ॥
The country of Daśārna will rejoice your approach;
The Ketakas’ split points lighten the garden hedge white,
Sparrows start nestling and gay the sacred village trees
(while enjoying domestic oblations),
The Jambū forest at the border darkens with its fruits ripe,
And the Hamsa swans will stay for days. (23)
An evergreen, woody unarmed glabrous showy shrub, with pale grey or whitish bark; leaves simple, bright green, ovate, entire below, irregularly and coarsely serrate towards the top, glabrous on both sides, minute stellate hairs on the nerves beneath; flowers showy, solitary and axiliary, pedicles jointed with pistils & stamens projecting from the centre, anthers reniform or kidney shaped; 1 – celled. Flowering throughout the year. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p602)
पश्चादुच्चैर्भुजतरुवनं मण्डलेनाभिलीनः
सांध्यं तेजः प्रतिनवजपापुष्परक्तं दधानः ।
नृत्तारम्भे हर पशुपतेरार्द्रनागाजिनेच्छां
शान्तोद्वेगस्तिमितनयनं दृष्टभक्तिर्भवान्या ॥ ३६ ॥
After that, embrace from above the forest trees extending like arms,
While you wear the sunset light, as red as a fresh Japā flower.
The Beast Lord Śiva has a desire for the blood wet skin of an elephant;
But your devotion will take it away at the beginning of his dance,
Witnessed by his consort Bhavānī, whose eyes are steady from her fear calmed. (36)
In the cloud’s journey. “When Śiva killed Gajāsura (Elephant-demon), he wore his skin dripping with blood, and danced about and wore it afterwords as a trophy. … Śiva is described as wearing this skin whenever he has his Tanḍava dance” (Kale 1999: 69-70). Since a cloud resembles grey elephant skin, the cloud may replace it and calm Śiva’s covet for the skin. The Japā-red colour shone by the sunset light serves as the elephant’s blood.
[Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.]
A large, evergreen tree with darkgrey fissured bark and dense spreading crown; leaves simple, oblong, glabrous, leathery with wavy margins; flowers white fragrant, axillary, solitary or fascicled; fruits ovoid berries, seed 1-2 per fruit, ovoid, compressed, freyish brown, shiny. Flowering-fruiting January to September. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p764)
रक्ताशोकश्चलकिसलयः केसरश्चात्र कान्तः
प्रत्यासन्नौ कुरबकवृतेर्माधवीमण्डपस्य ।
एकः सख्यास्तव सह मया वामपादाभिलाषी
काङ्क्षत्यन्यो वदनमदिरां दोहदच्छद्मनास्याः ॥ ७५ ॥
The red Aśoka tree’s fresh leaves are wavering and Kesara is lovely
Near the hedge of Kurabaka and the pavillion of Mādhavī.
The former longs for the left foot of your female friend my lover, just like me;
The latter desires her mouthful of wine, pretending it yearns to bloom. (75)
Somewhere near the Yakṣa’s home in Alakā. The first is Aśoka and the other is Kesara. According to Kale (1999: 132), “The Aśoka is said to put forth flowers when kicked with her left foot by a beautiful woman” and Kesara “is poetically described as putting forth blossoms when sprinkled over with mouthful of wine by young ladies”.
[Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.]
A tortuous small tree or shrub, rarely erect with many aerial stilt roots; leaves glaucous-green, 90-150 cm long, coriaceous, marginal spines pointing forward and those of the midrib forward and backward; male flowers in numerous subsessile cylindric spikes with fragrant caudate-acuminate spathes, female flowers in solitary spadix; fruits oblong syncarps, yellow or red when ripe. Flowering-fruiting March to December. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p838)
पाण्डुच्छायोपवनवृतयः केतकैः सूचिभिन्नैर्
नीडारम्भैर्गृहबलिभुजामाकुलग्रामचैत्याः ।
त्वय्यासन्ने परिणतफलश्यामजम्बूवनान्ताः
संपत्स्यन्ते कतिपयदिनस्थायिहंसा दशार्णाः ॥ २३ ॥
The country of Daśārna will rejoice your approach;
The Ketakas’ split points lighten the garden hedge white,
Sparrows start nestling and gay the sacred village trees
(while enjoying domestic oblations),
The Jambū forest at the border darkens with its fruits ripe,
And the Hamsa swans will stay for days. (23)
I found two plants mentioned as this flower, and as I could not decide which fits better to the poem, I am listing both here.
Amaranthus paniculatus(left)
A tall, stout, annual herb. Leaves simple, ovate to ovate-rhomboid, glabrous. Flowers red in simple or branched axillary and terminal spikes. Fruit ovoid, circumscissile. Seed subglobose. Flowering-fruiting August to December. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.1 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p80)
or
Barleria Prionitis(right)
A glabrous prickly undershrub stems 4-gonous. Leaves alliptic, simple, acuminate, inter-petrolar spines. Flowers sessile, often solitary, yellow, bracts foliaceous, irregular. Fruit capsules, ovoid-conical, beaked, 2-seeded. Flowering-fruiting September to april.(Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.1 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p154)
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;
Her ringlet is adorned with young Kunda;
The grace of her face is made fair with the pollen of the Rodhra flowers;
On the braids at the head, fresh Kurabaka; on her hairs, lovely Śirīṣa;
And at the hairline, Nīpa which has sprung upon your approach. (65)
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.]
रक्ताशोकश्चलकिसलयः केसरश्चात्र कान्तः
प्रत्यासन्नौ कुरबकवृतेर्माधवीमण्डपस्य ।
एकः सख्यास्तव सह मया वामपादाभिलाषी
काङ्क्षत्यन्यो वदनमदिरां दोहदच्छद्मनास्याः ॥ ७५ ॥
The red Aśoka tree’s fresh leaves are wavering and Kesara is lovely
Near the hedge of Kurabaka and the pavillion of Mādhavī.
The former longs for the left foot of your female friend my lover, just like me;
The latter desires her mouthful of wine, pretending it yearns to bloom. (75)
Somewhere near the Yakṣa’s home in Alakā. The first is Aśoka and the other is Kesara. According to Kale (1999: 132), “The Aśoka is said to put forth flowers when kicked with her left foot by a beautiful woman” and Kesara “is poetically described as putting forth blossoms when sprinkled over with mouthful of wine by young ladies”.
[Reference: Kale, M. R. 1999. The Meghadūta of Kālidāsa. Corrected Edition. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited.]
A large scandent, tomentose shrub with young branches clothed with velvety pubescence; leaves simple, opposite,ovate, more or less pubescent beneath, base rounded or often cordate, main nerves 4-6 pairs prtioles densely villous; flowers white, slightly fragrant, sessile in dense terminal capitate cymes at the short axillary branches; fruits black, globose berries surrounded by suberect calyx teeth. Flowering-fruiting July to February. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p652)
तामुत्तीर्य व्रज परिचितभ्रूलताविभ्रमाणां
पक्ष्मोत्क्षेपादुपरिविलसत्कृष्णशारप्रभाणाम् ।
कुन्दक्षेपानुगमधुकरश्रीमुषामात्मबिम्बं
पात्रीकुर्वन्दशपुरवधूनेत्रकौतूहलानाम् ॥ ४७ ॥
Proceed!
Your friends Daśapura women’s eyebrows shake like creepers,
As they raise their eyelashes shining with black-spotted radiance,
which steals the beauty of the bees following shivering Kunda flowers.
Their curious eyes will catch you leaving the river behind. (47)
In the cloud’s journey. The suttle movement of the eyelashes (and perhaps the reflection) are contrasted to the bees which hover around Kunda flowers.
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;
Her ringlet is adorned with young Kunda;
The grace of her face is made fair with the pollen of the Rodhra flowers;
On the braids at the head, fresh Kurabaka; on her hairs, lovely Śirīṣa;
And at the hairline, Nīpa which has sprung upon your approach. (65)
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.]
A small laticiferous, deciduous tree with woody branches; bark thick, brown, rough, with abundant milky white latex; leaves simple, opposite,ovate to elliptic, membranous with 10-14 pairs of conspicuous nerves;flowers white, in terminal corymbose cymes; fruits long, narrow, cylindric, pendulous, follicles often dotted with shite spots, seeds linear-oblong, tipped at the apex with a spreading deciduous coma of brown hairs. It’s seed is called Indrajava. Flowering-fruiting January to November. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.3 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p606)
प्रत्यासन्ने नभसि दयिताजीवितालम्बनार्थी
जीमूतेन स्वकुशलमयीं हारयिष्यन्प्रवृत्तिम् ।
स प्रत्यग्रैः कुटजकुसुमैः कल्पितार्घाय तस्मै
प्रीतः प्रीतिप्रमुखवचनं स्वागतं व्याजहार ॥ ४ ॥
The month of Nabhas was approaching; through the thundering cloud,
He will send the tidings of his well-being, to support the life of his beloved one.
As it deserves oblation, he prepared fresh Kuṭaja flowers,
And made greetings with affectionate words, with much delight. (4)
This is when he has just seen the cloud. Nabhas month is in the rainy season. Kale (1999: 13) writes, “The Kuṭaja is a small plant bearing white flowers of an inferior kind and not having a pleasing smell. But the Yaksha took up those flowers as he had them at hand being the flowers of the season”, while Kimura (1962: 184) writes that it is a small flower with weak but nice fragrance, which flowers in the rainy season. [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.]
A tall thorny bamboo upto 30 m in height with many stems, tufted on stout root stock, nodes prominent, the lowest rooting, internodes upto 45 cm long, stem sheath coriaceous, orange-yellow, streaked, glabrous or puberulous beneath, base rounded, ciliate, tip stiff, midrib narrow, leaf sheaths with a short bristly buricle, ligule short; spikelets glabrous, yellow or yellow-ish green, in very long panicles, often occupying the whole ste, floral glumes, 3-7 in number, the uppermost 1-3 male or neuter, lodicules 3, hyaline, 1-3 nerved, ciliate; fruits oblong grains, beaked by the style base, grooved on one side. Flowering – fruiting September to April. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.1 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p152)
शब्दायन्ते मधुरमनिलैः कीचकाः पूर्यमाणाः
संरक्ताभिस्त्रिपुरविजयो गीयते किंनरीभिः ।
निर्ह्रादी ते मुरज इव चेत्कन्दरासु ध्वनिः स्यात्
संगीतार्थो ननु पशुपतेस्तत्र भावी समस्तः ॥ ५६ ॥
Kīcakas ring in sweet sounds as the winds run through,
And the Kiṁnarī women sing passionately the victory over three castles.
When your thunder shakes the great cliff like a Muraja drum,
There the mighty orchestra of the Beast Lord Śiva will assemble. (56)
In the cloud’s journey. The soft clattering sound of the bamboo leaves makes the bamboos musicians of Śiva.
तन्मध्ये च स्फटिकफलका काञ्चनी वासयष्टिर्
मूले नद्धा मणिभिरनतिप्रौढवंशप्रकाशैः ।
तालैः शिञ्जद्वलयसुभगैर्नर्तितः कान्तया मे
यामध्यास्ते दिवसविगमे नीलकण्ठः सु्हृद्वः ॥ ७६ ॥
And in the middle is a golden perch with a crystal bench,
Fastened to the ground by gems shining like a young Vaṁśa;
Your friend the blue-throat peacock dances
To the auspicious tāla rhythms of my lover’s rattling bracelets,
And enjoy the evening there. (76)
Somewhere near the Yakṣa’s home in Alakā. Perhaps in the middle of Aśoka and Kesara from the previous verse. Vaṁśa is used to describe the colour of some green gem.
Kalpavṛkṣa is one of the five sacred trees of Indra, which also grows in other heavens. In Buddhist literatures, too, is depicted to grow in the countries of Buddhas. It is believed that Kalpavṛkṣa produces anything one would desire, and hence anything celestial beings need, such as clothes, ornaments, and foods, would spring out of the trees. Not only in literature but also in paintings, it is illustrated with clothes and necklaces hung on the branches(Kimura 1962: 252). Kale (1999: 107) translates, “the wish-granting tree”. [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.]
Drink the water from Mānasa lake where golden lotuses grow,
And give shade to the face of Airāvaṇa, Indra’s elephant, as you wish;
Shake the fine white garments of Kalpa tree with winds full of water,
And enjoy dividing the crystal-bright peak with your shades. (62)
At Kailāsa, Śiiva’s sacred home-mountain, in the cloud’s journey. Coming to the north (as it can be seen from the ‘crystal-pure peak’), it is almost reaching the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā.
यस्यां यक्षाः सितमणिमयान्येत्य हर्म्यस्थलानि
ज्योतिश्छायाकुसुमरचनान्युत्तमस्त्रीसहायाः ।
आसेवन्ते मधुरतिफलं कल्पवृक्षप्रसूतं
त्वद्गम्भीरध्वनिशु शनकैः पुष्करेष्वाहतेषु ॥ ६६ ॥
There, the palace floor consists of moon stones,
On which starlight paints flowers;
Yakṣas arrive with the best women,
And enjoy the Ratiphala wine extracted from Kalpa trees.
Puṣkara drums are beaten gently, resembling your deep roar. (66)
A description of the Yakṣa’s hometown Alakā. Vallabhadeva (in Kimura 1962: 253) writes that the wines produced from Kalpavṛkṣa stimulates pleasure but does not cause fights.
[Reference: Kimura, Hideo 1962. Kālidāsa Literature Series No.1: jojōshi kisetsushū kumo no shisha. Kyoto: Hyakka-en.]
A stout herbaceous plant with underground hemispherical depressed dark brown corm; leaves compound, large, solitary, petiole stout, mottled, 60-90 cm long, leaflets 5-12.5 cm long of variable width, obovate or oblong, acute, strongly and many-nerved; male and female inflorescences contiguous, neuters absent, appendage of spadix subglobose or amophous, equalling or longer than the fertile region, spathe campanulate, pointed, strongly, closely veined greenish, pink externally, base wihtin purple, margins recurved, undulate and crisped, male inflorescence subturbinate, female 7.5 cm or more long; fruits obovoid 2-3 seeded red berries. Flowering-fruiting April to June. (Ashok Sheth (Ed.). 2005 The herbs of ayurveda vol.1 Gujarat : Ashok Sheth. p90)
नीपं दृष्ट्वा हरितकपिशं केसरैरर्धरूढैर्
आविर्भूतप्रथममुकुलाः कन्दलीश्चानुकच्छम् ।
दग्धारण्येष्वधिकसुरभिं गन्धमाघ्राय चोर्व्याः
सारङ्गास्ते जललवमुचः सूचयिष्यन्ति मार्गम् ॥ २१ ॥
Nīpas appear green and red with the half-grown stamens;
The first buds of the Kandalīs emerge at the bank;
And the fragrance of the earth in the burnt wilderness increase;
Recognising them, the antelopes will show the path for you, the water-pourer. (21)
Plants of Meghaduta 