Canto 3 -
Araṇya-kāṇḍa
Chapter 16: Lakṣmaṇa’s Description of Winter
Text 3.16.11

मृदुसूर्याः सनीहाराः पटुशीताः समारुताः।
शून्यारण्या हिमध्वस्ता दिवसा भान्ति साम्प्रतम्॥

mṛdu-sūryāḥ sanīhārāḥ paṭu-śītāḥ samārutāḥ
śūnyāraṇyā hima-dhvastā divasā bhānti sāmpratam

mṛdu-sūryāḥ = with a mild sun; sunīhārāḥ = thick fog; paṭu-śītāḥ = and extreme cold; samārutāḥ = with the winds; śūnya-āraṇyāḥ = during these days, the forest-dwellers are destitute; hima-dhvastāḥ = and withered by cold; divasāḥ = the days; bhānti = appear; sāmpratam = now.

With the winds, the days now appear with a mild sun, thick fog and extreme cold. During these days, the forest-dwellers are destitute and withered by cold.

[In the days during winter,] the sun is mild, that is, not fierce. The forest-dwellers are tormented by the cold because they don’t have warm clothing, [and so] they don’t go out.

GLOSS. [The glossator read the second line as śūnyāraṇyā hi madhv-astādivasā bhānti sāmpratam with the following meaning:] “[During these days, the forest-dwellers are destitute, O Rāma] who has defeated the honey [in sweetness, and] the days are now brief.”1

1 Rāmāyaṇa-bhāva-dīpa: he madhv-asta madhur asto dhvasto yena sa tathā tat-sambuddhiḥ. āhitāgny-āditvāt para-nipātaḥ. ādivasāḥ īṣad-divasāḥ ahar-māna-nyaunyāt.