Shloka 28

Kuru's Consecration — Kuru’s Consecration and the Sanctification of Samantapañcaka (Kurukshetra)

Devanagari script

ततो ऽहमब्रुवं गत्वा कुरो किमिदमित्यथ तदाष्टाङ्गं महाधर्मं समाख्यातं नृपेण हि

Transliteration

tato 'hamabruvaṃ gatvā kuro kimidamityatha tadāṣṭāṅgaṃ mahādharmaṃ samākhyātaṃ nṛpeṇa hi

Translation

Darauf ging ich hin und fragte: „O Kuru, was ist dies?“ Da erklärte mir der König wahrlich das große Dharma, das aus acht Gliedern besteht.

Word by Word

• tataḥ: then/thereupon
• tataḥ: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय (Avyaya), temporal adverb (कालवाचक क्रियाविशेषण)

• aham: I
• aham: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/स्त्री (common), प्रथमा (1st case), एकवचन (singular)

• abruvam: said/spoke
• abruvam: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: brū (धातु)
• Form: लङ् (Imperfect/past), उत्तमपुरुष (1st person), एकवचन (singular), परस्मैपद

• gatvā: having gone
• gatvā: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: gam (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive), ‘having gone’

• kuro: O Kuru (king)
• kuro: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kuru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masc), सम्बोधन (vocative), एकवचन

• kim: what
• kim: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neut), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (nom/acc), एकवचन

• idam: this
• idam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• iti: thus
• iti: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/वाक्य-चिह्न)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iti (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, quotative particle (इति-प्रयोग)

• atha: then/and then
• atha: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, discourse particle/conjunction (अनन्तरार्थक)

• tadā: at that time
• tadā: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tadā (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, temporal adverb (कालवाचक)

• aṣṭāṅgam: eightfold/eight-limbed
• aṣṭāṅgam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: aṣṭa + aṅga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (acc), एकवचन; समासः—षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (aṣṭānām aṅgānām) ‘of eight limbs’

• mahādharmam: the great dharma
• mahādharmam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā + dharma (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः ‘महान् धर्मः’

• samākhyātam: declared/explained
• samākhyātam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Verb
• Root: sam-ā-khyā (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त—क्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया/प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘declared/told’

• nṛpeṇa: by the king
• nṛpeṇa: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nṛpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (instrumental), एकवचन

• hi: indeed/for
• hi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, emphatic/causal particle (निश्चयार्थक/हेतौ)

Speakers

• First-person narrator addresses Kuru; the king responds (dialogic instruction). Outer frame (Pulastya–Nārada) not explicit in the excerpt.

Key Themes

• Didactic dialogue
• Rājadharma
• Aṣṭāṅga-dharma (eightfold dharma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Flavour)

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

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

Dharma is to be sought through inquiry and transmitted through instruction: the narrator’s question triggers a formal teaching, emphasizing that righteousness is learnable, structured (eightfold), and communicable—not merely inherited status.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana?

This aligns with Vamśānucarita/Carita and Dharma-śikṣā passages embedded in a tīrtha-māhātmya narrative; it functions as normative teaching rather than cosmogenesis.

What is the symbolic significance?

By naming ‘aṣṭāṅga mahādharma,’ the text signals dharma as an integrated system (multiple limbs supporting one body), mirroring how a tīrtha-region is presented as an integrated sacred landscape with multiple constituent holy points.