तदा तदन्तःपुरमुज्झितप्रभं सुरैरिवोत्सृष्टमभास्करं दिनम्।
निरीक्ष्य सर्वं तु विविक्तमात्मवान्मुमोच बाष्पं भरतः सुदुःखितः॥
tadā tad antaḥ-puram ujjhita-prabhaṁ
surair ivotsṛṣṭam abhāskaraṁ dinam
nirīkṣya sarvaṁ tu viviktam ātmavān
mumoca bāṣpaṁ bharataḥ suduḥkhitaḥ
tadā = at that time; tat antaḥ-puram = inner quarters; ujjhita-prabham = that it was devoid of illumination; suraiḥ = by the devas; iva = resembled; utsṛṣṭam = created; abhāskaram = a sunless; dinam = day; nirīkṣya = noticed that; sarvam tu = the entire; viviktam = and that it was empty 3; ātmavān = the sober; mumoca = and shed; bāṣpam = tears; bharataḥ = Bharata; suduḥkhitaḥ = He then became very sad.
At that time the sober Bharata noticed that the entire inner quarters resembled a sunless day created by the devas, that it was devoid of illumination and that it was empty. He then became very sad and shed tears.
[1] nigamo niścaye vede pure pathi vaṇik-pathe (Vaijayantī).
[2] āsāraḥ syāt prasaraṇe vega-vṛṣṭau suhṛd-bale (Vaijayantī).
[3] viviktau pūta-vijanau (Amara).
1 These were the sunless days referred to in the text.
There is a Purāṇic history that in the past during a war between the devas and asuras, the devas were defeated. At that time Svarbhānu had defeated Sūrya. At that time, for some time there was no distinction between day and night. Then, on the order of Lord Brahmā, Atri took over the position of Sūrya for seven nights using his personal prowess.1