Shloka 8

द्रौपदी-स्वयंवर-प्रारम्भः

Commencement of Draupadī’s Svayaṃvara

Devanagari script

मम पन्था महाराज धर्म एष सनातन: । रज्ञा सर्वेषु धर्मेषु देय: पनथा द्विजातये,“महाराज! मार्ग तो मुझे ही मिलना चाहिये। यही सनातन धर्म है। सभी धर्मोमें राजाके लिये यही उचित है कि ब्राह्मणको मार्ग दे”

Transliteration

mama panthā mahārāja dharma eṣa sanātanaḥ | rājñā sarveṣu dharmeṣu deyaḥ panthā dvijātaye ||

Translation

Der Gandharva sprach: „O großer König, mir gebührt das Wegrecht. Dies ist die ewige Regel des Dharma: Unter allen Pflichten eines Herrschers ziemt es dem König, einem Zweimalgeborenen (einem Brahmanen) den Weg zu überlassen.“

Word by Word

ममof me / my

पन्थाःthe path / right of way

महाराजO great king

धर्मःduty / law

एषःthis

सनातनःeternal / ancient

राज्ञाby the king

सर्वेषुin all

धर्मेषुin duties / matters of dharma

देयःto be given

पन्थाःthe path / right of way

द्विजातयेto the twice-born (brahmin etc.)

Speaker

गन्धर्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

ग

गन्धर्व (Gandharva)

म

महाराज (a king, addressed)

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 asserts a norm of rājadharma (kingly duty): a ruler should uphold established social-religious etiquette, here expressed as yielding precedence/right of way to a dvija (especially a Brahmin), presented as ‘sanātana’ (time-honored) dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Gandharva addresses a king during a confrontation over passage, claiming precedence and justifying it by appealing to an accepted rule of conduct that the king should grant the way to a dvija.