Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 7

बदरपाचन-तीर्थमाहात्म्यम् | Badarapācana Tīrtha Māhātmya

Indratīrtha and the Austerities of Srucāvatī & Arundhatī

Devanagari script

वासश्न ते सदा देव सागरे मकरालये

Transliteration

vāsaśna te sadā deva sāgare makarālaye

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O divine one, you ever dwell in the ocean—the abode of makaras.”

Word by Word

• वासश्न: dweller, resident
• वासश्न: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासशिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ते: of you / your
• ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• सदा: always
• सदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सदा

• देव: O god / O lord
• देव: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• सागरे: in the ocean
• सागरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• मकरालये: in the abode of makaras (sea-creatures)
• मकरालये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मकरालय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Deva (unspecified deity)
• Sāgara (the ocean/sea)
• Makara

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line functions as reverential address: it situates the deity within a cosmic domain (the ocean) and conveys the idea of enduring divine presence. Ethically, it models humility and remembrance of higher order amid human conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana introduces or continues a devotional/praising description, addressing a deity as one who eternally resides in the sea, characterized as the habitat of makaras—mythic sea-creatures—thereby setting a sacred tone within the broader Shalya Parva narration.