Verse 1.38 [Creation of Clouds, etc.]

Sanskrit text, Unicode transliteration and English translation by Ganganath Jha:

विद्युतोऽशनिमेघांश्च रोहितैन्द्रधनूंषि च ।
उल्कानिर्घातकेतूंश्च ज्योतींष्युच्चावचानि च ॥ २८ ॥

vidyuto'śanimeghāṃśca rohitaindradhanūṃṣi ca |
ulkānirghātaketūṃśca jyotīṃṣyuccāvacāni ca || 38 ||

[They called into being] Lightnings, Hails, Clouds, Vertical Phosphorescence, Rainbows, Meteors, Portentous Sounds, Comets, and Stars of varying magnitudes.—(38)

Medhātithi’s commentary (manubhāṣya):

The semi-brilliant flash of light seen within the clouds is called ‘lightning,’ of which the other names are ‘Sandāminī’ and so forth, which are based upon certain peculiar characteristics;—‘Hails’— stone-like finely visible snow-particles, which, propelled by strong winds, fall like torrents of rain and destroy corns and other things;—‘Clouds,’ consist of the combination, in the atmosphere, of vapour, water, air and light;—‘Vertical phosphorescence,’ is an upright mass of violet-colon red luminous matter, occasionally visible in the sky; it is seen sometimes attached to the disc of the sun, and sometimes in other places also;—a particular Form of the same is called ‘Rainbow,’ which

differs from the former in being curved in the form of a bow;—‘Meteors,’ are those stars which are seen to fall as portents during twilights and at the advent of night, diffusing their brilliance all round;—‘Portentous sounds,’ are sounds emanating from the Earth or Sky, which are regarded as foreboding calamity;—‘Comets,’ the well-known stars with protruding crowns, seen during a public calamity;—as also various kinds of other stars, Dhruva, Agastya, Arundhatī and so forth.—(38)

Explanatory notes by Ganganath Jha

‘Rohita’—This is the name of the violet -coloured pillar of light that appears in the sky, in the manner of rainbows, generally attached to the solar disc, but sometimes in other parts of the sky also. Another name for it, according to Govindarāja, is ‘śastrotpāta’. Buhler says it is an imperfect