Shloka 14

Jaratkāru’s Conditional Marriage Vow and Vāsuki’s Offer (जरत्कारु-विवाह-नियमः)

Devanagari script

संदिश्य कुशलप्रश्न॑ कार्यवृत्तान्तमेव च । शिष्यं गौरमुखं नाम शीलवन्तं समाहितम्‌,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--उत्तम व्रतका पालन करनेवाले दयालु एवं महातपस्वी शमीक मुनिने अपने गौरमुख नामवाले एकाग्रचित्त एवं शीलवान्‌ शिष्यको इस प्रकार आदेश दे कुशल-प्रश्न, कार्य एवं वृतान्तका संदेश देकर राजा परीक्षित्‌के पास भेजा

Transliteration

sandishya kuśalapraśnaṁ kāryavṛttāntam eva ca | śiṣyaṁ gauramukhaṁ nāma śīlavantaṁ samāhitam ||

Translation

Nachdem er ihm aufgetragen hatte, höfliche Erkundigungen nach dem Wohlergehen zu überbringen, dazu die notwendige Botschaft und den vollständigen Bericht der Ereignisse, sandte Śamīka seinen Schüler namens Gauramukha—sittsam im Wandel und gesammelt im Geist.

Word by Word

• {'sandishya': 'having instructed

• having commissioned (a messenger)', 'kuśala-praśnam': 'inquiry about welfare

• polite asking after well-being', 'kārya': 'the matter at hand

• the task/purpose', 'vṛttānta': 'account of what happened

• narrative of events', 'eva ca': 'and indeed

• and also (emphatic conjunction)', 'śiṣyam': 'disciple

• student', 'gauramukham': "Gauramukha (proper name

• lit. 'fair-faced')", 'nāma': 'named

• by name', 'śīlavantam': 'of good character

• virtuous in conduct', 'samāhitam': 'collected

Speaker

शमीक उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śamīka (शमीक)
• Gauramukha (गौरमुख)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when conveying a serious or corrective message, one should begin with respectful welfare-inquiry, communicate the purpose clearly, and report events truthfully through a disciplined and composed messenger—an ethical model of speech and conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śamīka commissions his well-behaved, focused disciple Gauramukha to go as a messenger, carrying polite greetings, the required instruction, and a full report of the situation.