Report Shri Shankar Shikshayatan organised the fourth National Seminar on Kadambini on April 30,2025 as part of its annual discourse on Pandit Madhusudan Ojha’s noteworthy work on weather science, Kadambini. The discussion was based on the Nimittādhyāya of the text Kādambinī, composed by Pandit Madhusudan Ojha. This chapter discusses subjects like cloud formation (garbha-rūpa), wind (vāta), generation (utpādaka), sustenance (sthāpaka), cloud (megha), lightning (vidyut), thunder (garjita), and rain (vṛṣṭi). The specified portion of the text contains 106 verses (kārikās), and this symposium focused on the topics described therein. Prof. Phanindra Kumar Chaudhary, Professor, Department of Astrology, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi, delivered the keynote lecture. He stated that thunder is the fourth form of the cloud’s womb. The sound heard in the sky during the rainy season has three sources: clouds, lightning, and wind. The author of the text mentions four terms for this: garjita (roaring), stanita (rumbling), meghanirghoṣa (cloud-sound), and rasita (resonance). मेघाद् वज्राच्च वाताच्च शब्दस्त्रेधाऽन्तरिक्षजः।गर्जितं स्तनितं मेघनिर्घोषो रसितं च तत्॥ कादम्बिनी पृ. १३९, का.९३meghād vajrāc ca vātāc ca śabdas tredhā’ntarikṣajaḥ |garjitaṃ stanitaṃ meghanirghoṣo rasitaṃ ca tat || (Kādambinī, p. 139, kā. 93) In Sanskrit, the words vṛṣṭi and varṣa refer to rain. For the absence of rain, the terms avagraha and vagraha are used. For other forms of rain, words like karakā (hail) and himapāta (snowfall) are employed. वृष्टिर्वर्षं तद्विघातेऽवग्रहवग्रहौ समौ ।करका हिमपाताश्च वृष्टेरेवापरा विधा ॥ वही, पृ. १४०, का.१०६vṛṣṭir varṣaṃ tad-vighāte’vagraha-vagrahau samau |karakā himapātāś ca vṛṣṭer evāparā vidhā || (ibid., p. 140, kā. 106) Dr. Balkaram Saraswat, Assistant Professor, Department of Astrology, National Sanskrit University, Tirupati, emphasized the importance of the Kādambinī text. He elaborated on the lightning-related terms used in the text, identifying 29 different names for lightning—many of which are not found collectively even in Amarakosha (a renowned Sanskrit lexicon). Only 10 of these are listed in Amarakosha. विद्युत् क्षणप्रभा मेघप्रभा वीपाऽचिरप्रभा । ह्रादिन्यैरावती चम्पा शम्पा सौदामिनी तडित् ॥ आकालिकी शतावर्ता जलदा जलपालिका । क्षणांशु क्षणिका राधा चटुला चिलमीलिका ॥ सर्जूरचिररोचिश्च चपला चञ्चला चला । शतह्रदाऽशनिर्नीलाञ्जना च तडिदस्थिरा॥ वही, पृ. १३७, का.७२-७४ vidyut kṣhaṇaprabha meghaprabha vīpā’ciraprabha |hrādinī airāvatī campā śampā saudāminī taḍit ||ākālikī śatāvartā jaladā jalapālikā |kṣaṇāṃśu kṣaṇikā rādhā caṭulā cilamīlikā ||sarjūracirarociś ca capalā cañcalā calā |śatahradā’śanir nīlāñjanā ca taḍid asthirā || (ibid., p. 137, kā. 72–74) Dr. Bhupendra Kumar Pandey, Assistant Professor, Department of Astrology, Central Sanskrit University, Bhopal Campus, discussed the types of clouds and rainfall in winter. He identified different types of clouds: Puṣkara, Āvarta, Sanvarta, and Droṇa. हिमवृष्टिं तु कुर्वन्ति शीतकाले हि दिग्गजाः। पुष्करावर्तसंवर्तद्रोणाः स्युर्मेघजातयः ॥पुष्करो दुष्करोदः स्यादावर्तो निर्जलो घनः। बहूदकस्तु संवर्तो द्रोणः सस्यप्रपूरकः॥ वही, पृ. १३५, का.४२-४३ himavṛṣṭiṃ tu kurvanti śītakāle hi diggajāḥ |puṣkarāvartasaṃvartadroṇāḥ syur meghajātayaḥ ||puṣkaro duṣkarodaḥ syād āvarto nirjalo ghanaḥ |bahūdakas tu sanvarto droṇaḥ sasyaprapūrakḥ || (ibid., p. 135, kā. 42–43) Dr. Varun Kumar Jha, Assistant Professor, Department of Astrology, Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, elaborated on how clouds conceive to produce rain. He explained the five forms of cloud pregnancy: wind, cloud, lightning, thunder, and rain. These also go by the names mahāvāta (great wind) and jhañjāvāta (whirlwind), among others. गर्भरूपाणि वाताभ्रविद्युत्स्तनित-वृष्टयः।एषां भेदा महावाताझञ्झावातादयः पृथक्॥ वही, पृ. १३१, का.४garbharūpāṇi vātābhra-vidyut-stanita-vṛṣṭayaḥ |eṣāṃ bhedā mahāvātā-jhañjāvātādayaḥ pṛthak || (ibid., p. 131, kā. 4) Prof. Santosh Kumar Shukla, Professor, School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, presided over the event. He mentioned that in the previous chapters of the text, rules were laid out for determining cloud conception based on lunar months. Along with Akṣayatṛtīyā, topics like sign analysis through animals (śakuna), sounds (amitra), crows (kāka), discs (bimba), grains (dhānya), clods (loṣṭa), constellations (nakṣatra), cloud pregnancy (garbha), wind (vāyu), and extreme winds (atyugravāta) were discussed. The current Nimittādhyāya chapter focuses on various forms and behaviors of wind. Dr. Sudhakar Kumar Pandey, Assistant Professor, Veda Department, Central Sanskrit University, Jaipur Campus, began the program with a melodious Vedic invocation. Dr. Lakshmi Kant Vimal, Research Officer, Shri Shankar Shikshayatan Vedic Research Institute, conducted the event. Scholars, researchers, and Sanskrit enthusiasts from universities and colleges across various states participated enthusiastically, contributing to the success of the symposium.