एतौ जनपदौ स्फीतौ पूर्वमास्तां नरोत्तम। मलदाश्च करूशाश्च देवनिर्माणनिर्मितौ।।1.24.17।।
Meaning
"O best of men, these two prosperous lands, Malada and Karusha, were once fashioned by the gods themselves."
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| etau jana-padau sphītau | एतौ जन-पदौ स्फीतौ | these two prosperous countries | Nominative dual |
| pūrvam āstām nara-uttama | पूर्वम् आस्ताम् नर-उत्तम | formerly existed, O best of men | Verb (imperfect, dual) |
| maladāḥ ca karūṣāḥ ca | मलदाः च करूषाः च | Malada and Karusha | Nominative dual |
| deva-nirmāṇa-nirmitau | देव-निर्माण-निर्मितौ | created by divine construction | Nominative dual |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source glosses the names Malada and Karusha: mala-da as 'that which abolishes excreta' (not filth itself) and karusha as 'remover of hunger' -- explaining that in this belief system, mortal hunger inevitably produces excreta, so a land free of hunger is, by definition, also free of filth, making these lands originally 'heaven-on-earth' in that specific sense before Tataka's devastation.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.24.17 · Bāla Kāṇḍa