Shloka 5

Ajagara-vrata (The ‘Python’ Discipline): Prahrāda Questions a Wandering Sage

Devanagari script

गौतम उवाच मध्यदेशप्रसूतो5हं वासो मे शबरालये । शूद्रा पुनर्भूर्भार्या मे सत्यमेतद्‌ ब्रवीमि ते,गौतमने कहा--राक्षसराज! मेरा जन्म तो हुआ है मध्यदेशमें, किंतु मैं एक भीलके घरमें रहता हूँ। मेरी स्त्री शूद्र जातिकी है और मुझसे पहले दूसरेकी पत्नी रह चुकी है। यह बात मैं आपसे सत्य ही कहता हूँ

Transliteration

Gautama uvāca: Madhyadeśa-prasūto 'haṁ vāso me śabarālaye | Śūdrā punarbhūr bhāryā me satyam etad bravīmi te ||

Translation

قال غوتَما: «يا ملكَ الرَّاكشاسا، وُلدتُ في المَدْيَديشا (Madhyadeśa)، غير أنّي أقيم في بيتِ شابَرا (Śabara). وزوجتي امرأةٌ شُودرا، وقد كانت متزوّجةً من قبل. أقول لك هذا صدقًا.»

Word by Word

• {'Gautama uvāca': 'Gautama said', 'madhyadeśa': 'the Middle Country

• the central region regarded as culturally normative in classical India', 'prasūtaḥ': 'born, brought forth', 'aham': 'I', 'vāsaḥ': 'dwelling, residence', 'me': 'my', 'śabara': 'Śabara

• commonly a forest/tribal community (often rendered as Bhil in later vernacular usage)', 'ālaya': 'house, abode', 'śūdrā': 'a woman of the Śūdra social order', 'punarbhūḥ': 'a remarried woman

• one who has taken a husband again (after a prior marriage)', 'bhāryā': 'wife', 'satyam': 'truthfully, in truth', 'etat': 'this', 'bravīmi': 'I say, I declare', 'te': 'to you'}

Speaker

गौतम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Gautama
• Madhyadeśa
• Śabara (tribal/forest-dweller community)
• Śūdra (social order)
• punarbhū (remarried wife)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds satya (truthfulness) and ethical transparency: Gautama openly states his birth-region, present living situation, and his wife’s social status and remarriage, implying that dharma is not upheld by concealment or pride in pedigree but by honest speech and integrity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Gautama is speaking to an addressed listener (“to you”), presenting a candid self-description: though born in the culturally central Madhyadeśa, he lives among Śabaras, and his wife is a Śūdra and a punarbhū (remarried). The statement functions as a truthful disclosure of circumstances relevant to the ongoing dialogue.