Shloka 14

वसिष्ठ-प्रशंसा

Vasiṣṭha as Purohita: Ascetic Mastery and Royal Counsel

Devanagari script

ततः प्रगणयामासु: कस्य वारोउद्य भोजने । ज्ञात्वा चागम्य तं विप्र॑ पप्रच्छु: सर्व एव ते,इसके बाद उन्होंने यह जाननेके लिये कि आज भोजन पहुँचानेकी किसकी बारी थी, दिन आदिकी गणना की। फिर उस ब्राह्णकी बारीका पता लगनेपर सब लोग उसके पास आकर पूछने लगे

Transliteration

tataḥ pragaṇayāmāsuḥ kasya vāro ’dya bhojane | jñātvā cāgamya taṃ vipraṃ papracchuḥ sarva eva te ||

Translation

Dann begannen sie, die Tage zu zählen und zu berechnen, um festzustellen, wessen Reihe es heute war, die Mahlzeit zu bringen. Als sie es herausgefunden hatten, gingen sie alle zu jenem Brahmanen und befragten ihn.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

प्रगणयामासुःthey counted/enumerated

कस्यof whom/whose

वारःturn, chance

उद्यtoday

भोजनेin/for the meal

ज्ञात्वाhaving known

चand

आगम्यhaving come/approached

तम्him

विप्रम्the brahmin

पप्रच्छुःthey asked

सर्वेall

एवindeed, just

तेthey

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

vipra (a brahmin)

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 highlights dharma expressed through orderly, shared responsibility: communal obligations (like feeding) are fulfilled by a fair rotation, and the community verifies the duty-holder rather than acting arbitrarily.

What is happening in the narrative?

A group calculates whose scheduled turn it is to provide food that day; once they identify the responsible brahmin, they approach him together and question him about the matter.