Shloka 8

Devanagari script

वधूपरिवृता राज्ञि नगरं गन्तुमर्हसि । राजा यात्वेष धर्मात्मा तापस्ये कृतनिश्चय:

Transliteration

vadhūparivṛtā rājñi nagaraṃ gantum arhasi | rājā yātveṣa dharmātmā tāpasye kṛtaniścayaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O queen, accompanied by your daughters-in-law, you should return to the city. As for the king—this righteous-souled man has resolved to depart and take up the life of an ascetic, a tapasvin.”

Word by Word

वधूby/with the bride (daughter-in-law)

परिवृताsurrounded/attended (by)

राज्ञिO queen

नगरम्to the city

गन्तुम्to go

अर्हसिyou ought/are fit

राजाthe king

यातुlet (him) go

एषःthis (man)

धर्मात्माrighteous-souled

तपस्येin austerity/penance

कृतनिश्चयःhaving made a firm resolve

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

the queen (rājñī)

the king (rājā)

daughters-in-law (vadhū)

the city (nagara)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma as role-appropriate conduct: the queen is advised to return to civic life with the household women, while the king, having formed a firm resolve, embraces tapas (ascetic discipline). It frames renunciation not as impulse but as a deliberate, ethically grounded decision.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports an instruction to the queen: she should go back to the city accompanied by the daughters-in-law, whereas the king—described as dharmātmā—intends to depart for an ascetic mode of life, indicating a decisive shift from royal household life toward forest austerity.