Shloka 22

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

Devanagari script

नाम्ना जितवती नाम रूपयौवनशालिनी । उशीनरस्य राजर्षे: सत्यसंधस्य धीमत:,“उसका नाम है जितवती। वह सुन्दर रूप और युवावस्थासे सुशोभित है। सत्यप्रतिज्ञ बुद्धिमान्‌ राजर्षि उशीनरकी पुत्री है। रूपसम्पत्तिकी दृष्टिसे मनुष्यलोकमें उसकी बड़ी ख्याति है। महाभाग! उसीके लिये बछड़ेसहित यह गाय लेनेकी मेरी बड़ी इच्छा है

Transliteration

nāmnā jitavatī nāma rūpayauvanaśālinī | uśīnarasya rājarṣeḥ satyasaṃdhasya dhīmataḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Ihr Name ist Jitavatī — strahlend an Schönheit und in der Blüte der Jugend. Sie ist die Tochter des königlichen Rishi Uśīnara, eines Weisen, der unbeirrbar an der Wahrheit festhält. Um ihretwillen — berühmt unter den Sterblichen für ihre Anmut —, o Edler, begehre ich innig, diese Kuh samt ihrem Kalb mitzunehmen.“

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.