Shloka 8

Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ

King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt

Devanagari script

पशव्यश्रैव पुण्यश्च प्रभूतधनधान्यवान्‌ । स्वारक्ष्यश्चैव सौम्यश्न भोग्यैर्भूमिगुणैर्युत:

Transliteration

vaishampāyana uvāca | paśavyāś caiva puṇyaś ca prabhūtadhana-dhānyavān | svārakṣyaś caiva saumyaś ca bhogyair bhūmi-guṇair yutaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Er war reich an Vieh und zugleich tugendhaft; er besaß überreiche Schätze und Korn. Er vermochte sein Reich selbst zu schützen, war von sanftem Wesen und mit den Genüssen und natürlichen Vorzügen des Landes ausgestattet — Gütern, die recht gebraucht und bewahrt werden sollen.

Word by Word

पशव्यःrich in cattle

चand

एवindeed

पुण्यःvirtuous; meritorious

चand

प्रभूत-धन-धान्यवान्possessing abundant wealth and grain

स्व-रक्ष्यःself-protected; easy to defend

चand

एवindeed

सौम्यःgentle; pleasant

चand

भोग्यैःenjoyable; fit to be enjoyed (by)

भूमि-गुणैःwith the qualities of the land

युतःendowed (with); possessed of

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Prosperity is presented as ethically grounded: true excellence includes virtue (puṇya), the capacity to protect one’s realm (svārakṣya), gentleness (saumya), and the responsible enjoyment and stewardship of the land’s resources (bhūmi-guṇa).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a figure’s qualities—material abundance (cattle, wealth, grain) together with moral and administrative fitness (virtue, self-protection, gentleness), portraying an idealized condition of a well-endowed and well-governed domain.