Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.12.20
Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)
-
arka-kara-āraktam
—
reddened by the sun's rays
Compound: arka (sun) + kara (ray) + ārakta (reddened). The upper lip is sun-touched cloud-color. Bhāgavatam's nature-imagery is precise: pinks, reds, the colors of dawn — all the colors of Vraja's sky are catalogued in the demon's body too.
-
uttarā-hanuvat
—
like the upper jaw
Compound: uttara (upper) + hanu (jaw) + vat (like). Anatomical precision plus simile-suffix. The boys, even in their playful interpretation, see clearly — Vraja-rasa is not blurry; it is poetic comparison.
-
adharā-hanuvat
—
like the lower jaw
Compound: adhara (lower) + hanu (jaw) + vat (like). The pair uttarā/adharā creates a verse-internal symmetry — sky-and-shadow, upper-and-lower. Aghāsura is symmetrically described because Kṛṣṇa's līlā has aesthetic structure even in its parodies.
-
tat-praticchāyayā
—
by its reflection
Compound: tat (that) + praticchāyā (reflection). The 'reflection' of the cloud — a doubled image. Gauḍīyas note the recurrence of pratibhāsa / praticchāyā imagery in Bhāgavatam: māyā is always a reflection of the real.
One boy agreed with them. "" The cloud reddened by the sun seems to be his upper lip, and its reflection reddening the ground seems to be his lower lip." Hanu here means lip or jaw rather than chin since there is no upper and lower chin.
The mountain slope made red by the reflection from the cloud is like its lower lip. Some boys asked the question in the previous verse. Other boys answer in four verses, agreeing with them. You speak the truth (satyam). It is red with the sunlight. This indicates that the boys were going west, and the demon was facing east. Thus the morning light lit up the snake. Uttarā in the feminine instead of masculine is poetic license.
Picture children matching cloud-colors to a creature's lips — pink and red, sun and shadow. Their analysis is correct in every detail; only the conclusion they should draw, they will not. Vraja teaches: accurate perception of danger is compatible with absolute fearlessness, when Kṛṣṇa is the company.
My note
Source: vedabase.io