Shloka 28

पात्रलक्षण-परिक्षा (Pātra-Lakṣaṇa Parīkṣā) — Criteria for a Worthy Recipient

Devanagari script

तेषामेव प्रभावेण सहस्ननयनो हासौ । शतक्रतु: समभवत्‌ पश्य माधव यादृशम्‌

Transliteration

teṣām eva prabhāveṇa sahasranayano hy asau | śatakratuḥ samabhavat paśya mādhava yādṛśam ||

Translation

«وبمحض قوة أولئك البراهمة صار هذا إندرا “ذا الألف عين”. انظر يا ماذافا ما تصنعه قدرتهم: فمن العلامات التي نشأت على جسده بتأثيرهم عُرف باسم سَهَسْرَاكْشَا (ذو الألف عين) وباسم شتاكرتو (مُقيم مئة قربان).»

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• प्रभावेण: by (their) power/influence
• प्रभावेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभाव
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• सहस्रनयनः: the thousand-eyed one (Indra)
• सहस्रनयनः: Karta
• Type: Noun (epithet)
• Root: सहस्रनयन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• हासौ: this one/that one (as such); (reading uncertain)
• हासौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शतक्रतुः: Śatakratu (Indra, performer of a hundred sacrifices)
• शतक्रतुः: Karta
• Type: Noun (epithet)
• Root: शतक्रतु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• समभवत्: became/arose
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + भू
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular

• पश्य: see/behold
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Imperative (Loṭ), 2nd, Singular

• माधव: O Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)
• माधव: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun (vocative, proper epithet)
• Root: माधव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यादृशम्: of what sort/how (it is)
• यादृशम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective (interrogative/relative)
• Root: यादृश
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva (speaker)
• Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa, addressee)
• Indra (Śatakratu, Sahasrākṣa)
• Brāhmaṇas (as possessors of prabhāva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the moral and social idea that brāhmaṇas/ascetics, through tapas and spiritual authority (prabhāva), can decisively shape outcomes—even for gods—so one should treat such power with reverence and caution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva points to Indra’s epithet ‘Sahasrākṣa’ and explains it as an effect of the brāhmaṇas’ influence: their potency caused distinctive marks that became symbolically reinterpreted as ‘eyes,’ establishing Indra’s famed designation.