Shloka 43

Śoka-śamana: Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation and Nārada’s Exempla to Sṛñjaya

Chapter 29

Devanagari script

न भूतं न भविष्यं च सर्वराजसु सूंजय । अन्यत्रौशीनराच्छैब्याद्‌ राजर्षेरिन्द्रविक्रमात्‌,“सूृंजय! प्रजापति ब्रह्माने इन्द्रके तुल्य पराक्रमी उशीनरपुत्र राजा शिबिके सिवा सम्पूर्ण राजाओंमें भूत या भविष्यकालके दूसरे किसी राजाको ऐसा नहीं माना, जो शिबिका कार्यभार वहन कर सकता हो

Transliteration

na bhūtaṃ na bhaviṣyaṃ ca sarvarājasu sūṃjaya | anyatra auśīnarāc chaibyād rājarṣer indravi kramāt ||

Translation

Vāyu sprach: „O Sūṃjaya, unter allen Königen gab es keinen in der Vergangenheit und wird es keinen in der Zukunft geben, außer dem Auśīnara — König Śibi, dem Śaibya —, einem königlichen Seher von Indra-gleicher Kraft, der wahrhaft imstande war, jene Last zu tragen.“

Word by Word

नnot

भूतम्the past (what has been)

नnor

भविष्यम्the future (what will be)

चand

सर्वराजसुamong all kings

शृञ्जयO Śṛñjaya

अन्यत्रelsewhere; except

औशीनरात्from/than Auśīnara (a king of the Uśīnara line)

छैब्यात्from/than Śaibya

राजर्षेःof the royal sage

इन्द्रविक्रमात्from/than (one) whose prowess is like Indra’s

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyudeva (Vāyu)

Sūṃjaya

King Śibi (Śibi Auśīnara, Śaibya)

Indra

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 elevates King Śibi as an unmatched model of rājadharma: true kingship is measured not merely by power but by the capacity to shoulder extraordinary moral responsibility and self-sacrificial duty for the sake of righteousness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyu addresses Sūṃjaya and declares that among all kings across time, only King Śibi—renowned as Auśīnara/Śaibya and described as a rājarṣi with Indra-like prowess—was fit to bear the exceptional burden being discussed, thereby setting Śibi up as the supreme ethical exemplar.