ते उपेत्य महारात्रे तमसि प्रत्युपस्थिते ।
उर्वश्या उरणौ जह्रुर्न्यस्तौ राजनि जायया ॥२७॥

te upetya mahÄ-rÄtre
tamasi pratyupasthite
urvaÅ›yÄ uraṇau jahrur
nyastau rÄjani jÄyayÄ

 te - they, the Gandharvas; upetya - coming there; mahÄ-rÄtre - in the dead of night; tamasi - when the darkness; pratyupasthite - appeared; urvaÅ›yÄ - by Urvaśī; uraṇau - two lambs; jahruḥ - stole; nyastau - given in charge; rÄjani - unto the King; jÄyayÄ - by his wife, Urvaśī.


Text

Thus the Gandharvas came to earth, and at midnight, when everything was dark, they appeared in the house of PurÅ«ravÄ and stole the two lambs entrusted to the King by his wife, Urvaśī.

Purport

“The dead of night†refers to midnight. The mahÄ-niÅ›Ä is described in this smá¹›ti-mantra: mahÄ-niÅ›Ä dve ghaá¹­ike rÄtrer madhyama-yÄmayoḥ, “Twelve o’clock midnight is called the dead of night.â€