Mahabharata 3.20.2 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 20, Shloka 2

Śālva–Pradyumna Yuddha: Sārathya-kauśala, Astra-pratikāra, Daiva-niyati

Chapter 20

Devanagari script

अपश्यं॑ द्वारकां चाहं महाराज हतत्विषम्‌ | निःस्वाध्यायवषट्कारां निर्भूषणवरस्त्रियम्‌

Transliteration

apaśyaṁ dvārakāṁ cāhaṁ mahārāja hatatviṣam | niḥsvādhyāyavaṣaṭkārāṁ nirbhūṣaṇavarastriyam ||

Translation

Vāsudeva sprach: „O großer König, als ich ankam, sah ich Dvārakā ihres Glanzes beraubt. Es gab weder die Rezitation des svādhyāya noch den Opferausruf ‚vaṣaṭ‘. Die Stadt wirkte öde—wie eine schöne Frau, der man den Schmuck genommen hat.“

Word by Word

• अपश्यम्: I saw
• अपश्यम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada

• द्वारकाम्: Dvaraka
• द्वारकाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वारका
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• महाराज: O great king
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• हतत्विषम्: whose splendor was destroyed / lusterless
• हतत्विषम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हतत्विष्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• निःस्वाध्यायवषट्काराम्: devoid of Vedic study and vaṣaṭ-calls
• निःस्वाध्यायवषट्काराम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निःस्वाध्यायवषट्कार
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• निर्भूषणवरस्त्रियम्: like a beautiful woman without ornaments
• निर्भूषणवरस्त्रियम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: निर्भूषणवरस्त्री
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वासुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāsudeva
• Dvārakā
• Mahārāja (the addressed king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse links a community’s well-being to dharmic practice: when svādhyāya (sacred learning) and yajña-rites (signaled by the vaṣaṭ call) disappear, the loss is not merely cultural but moral and spiritual, reflected outwardly as the fading of a city’s ‘śrī’ (auspicious radiance).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāsudeva reports to the king that upon reaching Dvārakā he found it ominously changed—its brilliance gone and its religious life silent. He conveys this decline through a vivid simile: the city resembles a beautiful woman stripped of her ornaments, suggesting impending misfortune for the Yādava capital.