Shloka 52

Jabali Bound by the Monkey — Jabali Bound by the Monkey: Nandayanti’s Ordeal and the Yamuna–Hiranyavati Sacred Corridor

Devanagari script

तेषामर्थं हि विज्ञाय सा तदा चारुहासिनी तज्जाबाल्युदितं श्लोकमलिखच्चान्यमात्मनः

Transliteration

teṣāmarthaṃ hi vijñāya sā tadā cāruhāsinī tajjābālyuditaṃ ślokamalikhaccānyamātmanaḥ

Translation

Nachdem sie die Bedeutung jener Silben erkannt hatte, schrieb sie — sanft lächelnd — für sich selbst einen weiteren Śloka nieder, der von Jābāli gesprochen worden war.

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of those
• तेषाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन

• अर्थम्: meaning/sense
• अर्थम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• हि: indeed/for
• हि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle), emphasis/causal nuance

• विज्ञाय: having understood
• विज्ञाय: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + ज्ञा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund), ‘having understood/known’

• सा: she
• सा: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• तदा: then/at that time
• तदा: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, temporal adverb

• चारुहासिनी: the one with a lovely smile
• चारुहासिनी: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चारु + हासिनी (हस् धातु, णिनि-प्रत्यय; कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; णिनि-प्रत्ययान्त (agent noun) ‘one who smiles’; कर्मधारयः (चारुः हासः यस्याः)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; श्लोकम् इति विशेषणम्

• जाबाल्युदितम्: uttered by Jābāli
• जाबाल्युदितम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जाबालि + उदित (वद्/उद्-इ धातु?; here ‘udita’ from वद्/उद्-इ is lexical ‘spoken/uttered’; कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (जाबालिना उदितम् = uttered by Jābāli)

• श्लोकम्: verse
• श्लोकम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन

• अलिखत्: she wrote
• अलिखत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: लिख् (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/Past), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• अन्यम्: another
• अन्यम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; (श्लोकम्) इति अनुवर्तते

• आत्मनः: of herself
• आत्मनः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन

Speakers

• Narrative voice continuing the account; Jābāli is referenced as the source of a śloka (not directly speaking in this verse).

Primary Deities

• Shiva (Śaṅkara/Śrīkaṇṭha)

Key Themes

• Scriptural transmission and inscription (writing down śloka)
• Interpretation of sacred signs (artha of akṣara)
• Authority of sages (Jābāli as pramāṇa)
• Personal vow/record-keeping in pilgrimage contexts

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

FAQs

Who is Jābāli, and why is his ‘spoken verse’ important here?

Jābāli is a sage-name that appears across Itihāsa-Purāṇa literature as an authoritative voice. Citing a śloka ‘uttered by Jābāli’ functions as a credential: the teaching or formula she records is grounded in recognized ṛṣi-tradition rather than being merely personal inspiration.

What does ‘writing down’ (alikhat) suggest about practice at a tīrtha?

It points to the material culture of pilgrimage and devotion: sacred places can involve inscriptions, written mantras, recorded vows, or copied verses. The act of writing also symbolizes internalization—turning a revelation into a portable, repeatable discipline.

How should we understand ‘she understood the meaning of those akṣaras’?

The narrative implies that the letters/syllables were not merely seen but decoded—either as a mantra with a known purport, an inscription requiring interpretation, or a symbolic revelation. This frames the episode as both devotional (darśana) and intellectual (artha-jñāna), a common Purāṇic pairing.