लोध / लोध्र — Lodh / Lodhra
HINDI NAME - लोध
SANSKRIT NAME - लोध्र
BOTANICAL NAME - Symplocos racemosa Roxb.
Sanskrit verse in Devanagari
उत्तरमेघः — प्रचलित पाठ में श्लोक २
Transliteration
haste līlā-kamalam alake bāla-kundānuviddhaṃ
nītā lodhra-prasava-rajasā pāṇḍutām ānane śrīḥ |
cūḍā-pāśe nava-kurabakaṃ cāru karṇe śirīṣaṃ
sīmante ca tvad-upagama-jaṃ yatra nīpaṃ vadhūnām || 2.2 ||
Plant part in the verse
English translation
In Alakā, the women hold playful lotuses in their hands. Fresh Kunda flowers are woven into their curls. The beauty of their faces is made delicately pale by the pollen of Lodhra flowers. New Kurabaka flowers adorn their hair-knots, Śirīṣa blossoms decorate their ears, and Nīpa flowers born from your arrival are placed in the parting of their hair.
Literary meaning
This verse is a complete floral ornament catalogue of Alakā’s women. Kālidāsa places each flower on a different part of the body: lotus in the hand, Kunda in the curls, Lodhra pollen on the face, Kurabaka in the hair-knot, Śirīṣa at the ear, and Nīpa in the hair parting. Lodhra is selected not as a garland flower but as a cosmetic pollen or powder that gives the face a soft pale glow.
Why did Kālidāsa select Lodh?
1. For its cosmetic association
Kālidāsa selected Lodhra because it was culturally understood as a beautifying powder or pollen. The phrase प्रसवरजसा makes the plant a cosmetic material.
2. To give colour to the face
The word पाण्डुताम् suggests a delicate pale-yellow or fair glow. Lodhra gives the face a refined cosmetic tone, not a loud colour.
3. To complete the floral body-map
Each plant in the verse belongs to a body-part: lotus-hand, Kunda-hair, Lodhra-face, Kurabaka-hair-knot, Śirīṣa-ear, Nīpa-hair-parting. Lodhra is the face plant.
4. To show Alakā’s luxury as natural
In Alakā, beauty products come from plants. Lodhra turns forest botany into celestial cosmetics.
5. To balance fragrance, colour and texture
Kunda gives whiteness, Kurabaka gives red freshness, Śirīṣa gives softness, Nīpa gives monsoon arrival, and Lodhra gives pale cosmetic powder. Kālidāsa selected it for texture and facial tone.
