Shloka 18

Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)

Devanagari script

इत्युक्त्वा पन्नगसुतां सपत्नी चैत्रवाहनी । ततः प्रायमुपासीना तूष्णीमासीज्जनाधिप,नरेश्वर! नागकन्यासे ऐसा कहकर उसकी सौत चित्रवाहनकुमारी चित्रांगा आमरण उपवासका संकल्प लेकर चुपचाप बैठ गयी

Transliteration

ity uktvā pannagasutāṃ sapatnī caitravāhanī | tataḥ prāyam upāsīnā tūṣṇīm āsīj janādhipa naraśvara ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Nachdem sie so zu der Schlangenjungfrau geredet hatte, nahm ihre Mitgattin—Citrāṅgā, die Prinzessin des Citravāhana—daraufhin das Gelübde des prāya (Fasten bis zum Tod) auf sich. In feierlichem Schweigen sitzend, blieb sie standhaft, o König, Herr der Menschen.

Word by Word

इतिthus

उक्त्वाhaving said

पन्नगसुताम्the serpent-daughter (Nāga maiden)

सपत्नीthe co-wife

चैत्रवाहनीChaitravāhanī (proper name)

ततःthen/thereupon

प्रायम्fast unto death (prāya, vow of dying by fasting)

उपासीनाhaving sat down / seated (undertaking)

तूष्णीम्silently

आसीत्was / remained

जनाधिपO lord of people

नरेश्वरO king / O lord of men

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

pannagasutā (Nāga-kanyā)

sapatnī (co-wife)

Caitravāhanī (princess of Citravāhana)

janādhipa/naraśvara (the 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 highlights the ethical seriousness of speech and honor within family life: instead of escalating rivalry, the co-wife adopts an extreme vow (prāya) and silence, presenting self-denial as a final moral stance and a form of expiation or protest.

What is happening in the narrative?

After addressing the Nāga-maiden, the princess described as the co-wife (Caitravāhanī) sits down and undertakes prāya—fasting unto death—remaining silent, while the narrator (Vaiśaṃpāyana) reports this to the king.