Shloka 55

Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

यदिदं चापलं देव कृतमेतत्‌ स्मयादिकम्‌ | ततः प्रसादयामि त्वां तपो मे न क्षरेदिति,इस प्रकार महादेवजीकी स्तुति करके वे महर्षि नतमस्तक हो गये और इस प्रकार बोले -- देव! मैंने जो यह अहंकार आदि प्रकट करनेकी चपलता की है, उसके लिये क्षमा माँगते हुए आपसे प्रसन्न होनेकी मैं प्रार्थना करता हूँ। मेरी तपस्या नष्ट न हो”

Transliteration

yad idaṁ cāpalaṁ deva kṛtam etat smayādikam | tataḥ prasādayāmi tvāṁ tapo me na kṣared iti ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Herr, welche Unbesonnenheit ich auch gezeigt habe —dieses Zurschaustellen von Stolz und dergleichen— geschah aus Unachtsamkeit. Darum suche ich dich zu besänftigen und bitte um deine Gnade, damit meine Askese (tapas) nicht geschmälert werde.“

Word by Word

• {'yad idam': 'whatever this (act) is', 'cāpalam': 'rashness, fickle impulsiveness', 'deva': 'O god

• O Lord', 'kṛtam': 'done, committed', 'etat': 'this', 'smaya-ādikam': 'pride and similar faults (arrogance, self-display, etc.)', 'tataḥ': 'therefore, for that reason', 'prasādayāmi': 'I propitiate

• I seek to please/appease', 'tvām': 'you', 'tapas': 'austerity, ascetic power, spiritual merit', 'me': 'my', 'na': 'not', 'kṣaret': 'should perish/decline/be wasted', 'iti': 'thus'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Deva (Mahādeva/Śiva, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even spiritual attainment can be endangered by pride and impulsive self-display; humility, confession of fault, and seeking divine grace are presented as the corrective that preserves one’s tapas (austerity and merit).

What is happening in the narrative?

After praising Mahadeva, the speaker bows and admits a moment of rashness expressed as pride and related faults, then prays for forgiveness and asks that his accumulated austerity not be diminished.