Shloka 22

नियोगप्रसङ्गः — The Niyoga Episode: Births of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura

Devanagari script

नाम्ना जितवती नाम रूपयौवनशालिनी । उशीनरस्य राजर्षे: सत्यसंधस्य धीमत:

Transliteration

nāmnā jitavatī nāma rūpayauvanaśālinī | uśīnarasya rājarṣeḥ satyasaṃdhasya dhīmataḥ |

Translation

قال فايشَمبايانا: «اسمُها جيتَفَتِي، متألّقةٌ بالحُسنِ وبهجةِ الشباب. وهي ابنةُ الملكِ الناسكِ أُشِينَرَ، الحكيمِ الثابتِ على الصدق. ومن أجلها—وهي مشهورةٌ بين البشر بجمالها—يا ذا النُّبل، أشتدُّ رغبةً في أن آخذَ هذه البقرةَ مع عِجلِها.»

Word by Word

• {'nāmnā': 'by name', 'jitavatī': "Jitavatī (proper name

• lit. 'the victorious one')", 'nāma': 'indeed

• named', 'rūpa': 'form, beauty', 'yauvana': 'youth', 'śālinī': 'possessing, endowed with', 'uśīnarasya': 'of Uśīnara', 'rājarṣi': 'royal sage (king-sage)', 'satyasaṃdha': 'firm in truth

• one whose vow is truth', 'dhīmat': 'wise, intelligent'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Jitavatī
• Uśīnara
• cow
• calf

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds ethical valuation of satya (truth) through the epithet satyasaṃdha for Uśīnara, while also showing how desire and social reputation (fame for beauty) can motivate actions—setting up a dharmic tension between attraction/possession and right conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator identifies a celebrated young woman, Jitavatī, as the daughter of the truthful and wise royal sage Uśīnara, and states that for her sake the speaker strongly wishes to take a particular cow together with its calf—introducing the motive behind an intended acquisition.