Ritu Samhaaram of Kalidasa - Verses 5-3 to 5-7

Ritu Samhaaram of Kalidasa
Winter Season

Chapter [Sarga] 5

(Based on a literal translation by Desirajuh Rao at http://www.geocities.com/desirajuhrao/RS/sarga5/rs_5_frame)


5-3
In this season, no one likes
The sandal-paste that feels
Cool like the beams of moon,
Nor the house tops where dew drops
Are chilled by the desert breeze.

5-4
Nights with heaps of snowfall
Further chilled by the moon beams,
Or the skies with clusters
Of luster-lacking white stars
Are pleasant to no one.

5-5
Women, chewing beetle nuts
And drinking fragranced, delightful drinks,
With their bodies freshly creamed,
And flowers tucked in their hair,
Happily enter the bed rooms,
Where smolders the resin of aloe vera
Giving off its sweet scents.

5-6
Women enter the bed rooms
Wavering in their hearts,
And see their scowling husbands
Still complaining for the daunting
They earlier got for their faults.
Looking at their lustful women,
Husbands long for love making.
Wives cannot resist and hurry
To bed, caring less for their faults.

5-7
The virgin young women
Become full women for the first time.
Young hot men thirsting for lust
Take them repeatedly with fervor
In these long wintry nights.
Worn out and fully gratified,
With their breasts now aching,
The women walk waveringly
In the early winter mornings.