Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 26

Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)

Devanagari script

ततः परेण यत्नेन तप्त्वा बहुविधं तप:

Transliteration

tataḥ pareṇa yatnena taptvā bahuvidhaṃ tapaḥ

Translation

Then, with renewed and greater effort, he undertook and completed austerities of many kinds—an intensification of disciplined self-restraint that signals moral resolve and purposeful endurance within the unfolding narrative.

Word by Word

• ततः: then/thereafter
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्-प्रातिपदिकात् अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (पञ्चमी-अर्थे: 'from/thereafter')

• परेण: by/with the other; with further (effort)
• परेण: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• यत्नेन: with effort
• यत्नेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: यत्न (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन

• तप्त्वा: having practiced/performed (austerity)
• तप्त्वा: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (पूर्वकालिक क्रिया): 'having performed (austerity)'

• बहुविधम्: of many kinds
• बहुविधम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहुविध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• तपः: austerity/penance
• तपः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tapas as intensified, purposeful self-discipline: ethical strength is cultivated through sustained effort and deliberate restraint, especially when circumstances demand greater inner resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that the subject (implied from the surrounding context) proceeds to undertake further, more strenuous austerities of various kinds, marking a transition to a phase of heightened ascetic effort.