Shalya Parva Adhyaya 35 Shloka 43 - Mahabharata | Bengali | Vedapath

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Shloka 43

Devanagari script

जनमेजय उवाच कथं तु भगवन्‌ सोमो यक्ष्मणा समगृहा[त । कथं च तीर्थप्रवरे तरमिं श्षन्द्रोी न्यमज्जत

Transliteration

janamejaya uvāca | kathaṁ tu bhagavan somo yakṣmaṇā samagṛhītaḥ | kathaṁ ca tīrthapravare tatra candro nyamajjat |

Translation

জনমেজয় জিজ্ঞাসা করলেন—ভগবন্! সোম (চন্দ্র) কীভাবে রাজযক্ষ্মায় গ্রস্ত হলেন? আর সেই শ্রেষ্ঠ তীর্থে চন্দ্র কীভাবে স্নান করেছিলেন?

Word by Word

जनमेजयःJanamejaya

उवाचsaid

कथम्how?

तुindeed/then/but

भगवन्O venerable one

सोमःSoma (the Moon)

यक्ष्मणाby consumption/disease (yakṣmā)

समगृहीतःseized/afflicted

अभवत्became/was

कथम्how?

चand

तीर्थप्रवरेin the best of holy fords (excellent tīrtha)

तरङ्गिण्याम्in the river (the wave-bearing one)

चन्द्रःthe Moon

न्यमज्जत्bathed/immersed (plunged)

Speaker

जनमेजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Janamejaya

Soma (Moon)

Candra (Moon)

Yakṣmā / Rājayakṣmā

Tīrtha (a foremost sacred bathing place)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic inquiry: even exalted beings may suffer affliction, and relief is sought through prescribed sacred means—especially tīrtha-bathing and ritual purification—highlighting humility, accountability, and the restorative power attributed to holy places.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Janamejaya asks the sage to explain two linked points: (1) how Soma/Candra became afflicted by rājayakṣmā, and (2) how he performed immersion at a foremost tīrtha there—setting up the ensuing account of the Moon’s ailment and its remedy through pilgrimage and bathing.