Shloka 25

Devanagari script

“मेरे नगरकी सड़कोंको पताकाओंसे अलंकृत किया जाय। फूलों तथा नाना प्रकारके उपहारोंसे सब देवताओंकी पूजा होनी चाहिये। कुमार, मुख्य-मुख्य योद्धा, शृंगारसे सुशोभित वारांगनाएँ और सब प्रकारके बाजे-गाजे मेरे पुत्रकी अगवानीमें भेजे जाय ।। घण्टावान्‌ मानव: शीघ्र मत्तमारुह्य वारणम्‌ । शृज्भाटकेषु सर्वेषु आख्यातु विजयं मम

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

me nagarasya rathyāḥ patākābhiḥ alaṅkriyantām | puṣpaiś ca nānāvidhaiś ca upahāraiḥ sarvadevatānāṃ pūjā kriyatām | kumārāḥ pradhānā yoddhāḥ śṛṅgāraśobhitāś ca vāraṅganāḥ sarvavidhāni ca vādyāni mama putrasya pratīcchārthaṃ preṣyantām ||

ghaṇṭāvān mānavaḥ śīghraṃ mattam āruhya vāraṇam | śṛṅgāṭakeṣu sarveṣu ākhyātu vijayaṃ mama ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Schmückt die Straßen meiner Stadt mit Bannern. Verehrt alle Gottheiten mit Blumen und mancherlei Gaben. Sendet Prinzen, die vornehmsten Krieger, reich geschmückte Kurtisanen und alle Arten von Musik und Trommeln aus, um meinen Sohn zu empfangen. Und ein Herold mit einer Glocke soll eilends einen brünstigen, rasenden Elefanten besteigen und an allen Kreuzungen meinen Sieg verkünden.“

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'vaiśampāyana uvāca', 'definition': 'Vaiśampāyana said (narrator’s speech marker)'}, {'term': 'nagara', 'definition': 'city'}, {'term': 'rathyāḥ', 'definition': 'streets/roads'}, {'term': 'patākā', 'definition': 'banner, flag'}, {'term': 'alaṅkriyantām', 'definition': 'let them be adorned/decorated (passive imperative)'}, {'term': 'puṣpa', 'definition': 'flower'}, {'term': 'upahāra', 'definition': 'offering, gift'}, {'term': 'sarvadevatā', 'definition': 'all deities'}, {'term': 'pūjā', 'definition': 'worship, ritual honor'}, {'term': 'kumāra', 'definition': 'prince, young noble'}, {'term': 'yoddhā', 'definition': 'warrior'}, {'term': 'śṛṅgāra', 'definition': 'adornment, erotic/ornamental elegance'}, {'term': 'vāraṅganā', 'definition': 'courtesan, public woman skilled in arts'}, {'term': 'vādya', 'definition': 'musical instrument

• music'}, {'term': 'agavānī / pratīcchā', 'definition': 'reception, welcoming'}, {'term': 'ghaṇṭāvān', 'definition': 'bearing a bell (as a heraldic sign)'}, {'term': 'mānava', 'definition': 'man, person (here: herald/announcer)'}, {'term': 'mattavāraṇa', 'definition': 'rutting elephant'}, {'term': 'śṛṅgāṭaka', 'definition': 'crossroads, public junction'}, {'term': 'ākhyātu', 'definition': 'to announce, proclaim'}, {'term': 'vijaya', 'definition': 'victory'}]

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• city (nagara)
• streets/roads (rathyāḥ)
• banners/flags (patākāḥ)
• all deities (sarvadevatāḥ)
• princes (kumārāḥ)
• warriors (yoddhāḥ)
• courtesans (vāraṅganāḥ)
• musical instruments (vādyāni)
• herald (ghaṇṭāvān mānavaḥ)
• elephant (vāraṇa)
• crossroads (śṛṅgāṭakāni)
• victory (vijaya)
• my son (mama putraḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds how rulers convert military success into civic order and legitimacy: gratitude to the gods through worship, and consolidation of authority through public celebration and proclamation. Ethically, it also invites reflection on the allure of fame and spectacle versus inner restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

A royal figure issues instructions for a victory celebration: decorate the city, perform worship with offerings, send out princes, warriors, courtesans, and musicians to receive his son, and have a herald ride an elephant to announce victory at every crossroads.