Texts 21-23
iti tac cintayann antaḥ
prāpto niya-gṛhāntikam
sūryānalendu-saṅkāśair
vimānaiḥ sarvato vṛtam
vicitropavanodyānaiḥ
kūjad-dvija-kulākulaiḥ
protphulla-kamudāmbhoja-
kahlārotpala-vāribhiḥ
juṣṭaṁ sv-alaṅkṛtaiḥ pumbhiḥ
strībhiś ca hariṇākṣibhiḥ
kim idaṁ kasya vā sthānaṁ
kathaṁ tad idam ity abhūt
iti — thus; tat — this; cintayan — thinking; antaḥ — inwardly; prāptaḥ — arrived; nija — his; gṛha — of the home; antikam — at the vicinity; sūrya — the sun; anala — fire; indu — and the moon; saṅkāśaiḥ — rivaling; vimānaiḥ — with celestial palaces; sarvataḥ — on all sides; vṛtam — surrounded; vicitra — wonderful; upavana — with courtyards; udyānaiḥ — and gardens; kūjat — cooing; dvija — of birds; kula — with hordes; ākulaiḥ — swarming; protphulla — fully bloomed; kumuda — having night-blooming lotuses; ambhoja — day-blooming lotuses; kahlāra — white lotuses; utpala — and water lilies; vāribhiḥ — with reservoirs of water; juṣṭam — adorned; su — well; alaṅkṛtaiḥ — ornamented; pumbhiḥ — with men; strībhiḥ — with women; ca — and; hariṇā — like those of she-deer; akṣibhiḥ — whose eyes; kim — what; idam — this; kasya — whose; vā — or; sthānam — place; katham — how; tat — it; idam — this; iti — so; abhūt — has become.
[Śukadeva Gosvāmī continued:] Thinking thus to himself, Sudāmā finally came to the place where his home stood. But that place was now crowded on all sides with towering, celestial palaces rivaling the combined brilliance of the sun, fire and the moon. There were splendorous courtyards and gardens, each filled with flocks of cooing birds and beautified by ponds in which kumuda, ambhoja, kahlāra and utpala lotuses grew. Finely attired men and doe-eyed women stood in attendance. Sudāmā wondered, “What is all this? Whose property is it? How has this all come about?”
Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī gives the sequence of the brāhmaṇa’s thoughts: First, seeing a great, unfamiliar effulgence, he thought, “What is this?” Then, noting the palaces, he asked himself, “Whose place is this?” And recognizing it as his own, he wondered, “How has it become so transformed?”