Shloka 23

Devanagari script

राजमार्गाः क्रियन्तां मे पताकाभिरलंकृता: । पुष्पोपहारैररच्यन्तां देवताश्चापि सर्वश:

Transliteration

rājamārgāḥ kriyantāṁ me patākābhir alaṅkṛtāḥ | puṣpopahārair aracyantāṁ devatāś cāpi sarvaśaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Man bereite mir die Königsstraßen und schmücke sie mit Bannern. Man richte Blumenopfer her, und überall sollen auch die Gottheiten verehrt werden.“

Word by Word

राजमार्गाःroyal roads

क्रियन्ताम्let (them) be made / be prepared

मेfor me / my

पताकाभिःwith banners

अलंकृताःadorned

पुष्पोपहारैःwith flowers and offerings

अरच्यन्ताम्let (them) be arranged / prepared

देवताःthe deities

चand

अपिalso

सर्वशःeverywhere / in every way

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

rājamārga (royal roads)

patākā (banners/flags)

puṣpa-upahāra (flower offerings)

devatā (deities)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Public power is to be exercised with auspiciousness and responsibility: civic spaces are ordered, beauty is used to uplift the community, and divine worship is invoked to align political action with dharma and collective well-being.

What is happening in the narrative?

An instruction is issued to prepare for a royal occasion—clearing and decorating the main roads with flags, arranging flower-offerings, and ensuring widespread worship of the deities—signaling a formal procession or reception conducted with ritual propriety.