Shloka 23

Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana

Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues

Devanagari script

यत्रादद: सहस्राणि अयुतानां गवां दश । अनन्तरं सहस्रेण तदा55सीद्‌ दैत्य का मति:,यज्ञ करते समय तुम्हारे यज्ञमण्डपका अत्यन्त विशाल मध्यवर्ती स्तम्भ पूरा-का-पूरा सोनेका बना होता था। जिस समय तुम निरन्तर दस-दस करोड़ गौओंका सहस्रों बार दान किया करते थे, दैत्यायाज! उस समय तुम्हारे मनमें कैसे विचार उठते रहे होंगे?

Transliteration

śakra uvāca | yatrādadaḥ sahasrāṇi ayutānāṃ gavāṃ daśa | anantaraṃ sahasreṇa tadā āsīd daitya kā matiḥ ||

Translation

Śakra said: “When you were giving away, time after time, thousands of gifts—each consisting of ten ayutas of cows—and then again in successive thousands, O Daitya, what was the state of your mind then? What thoughts arose in you while performing such vast sacrificial giving?”

Word by Word

• {'śakraḥ': 'Indra, the lord of the gods', 'uvāca': 'said', 'yatra': 'when/where (in the context: at the time when)', 'adadaḥ': 'you gave (2nd person, imperfect/aoristic sense)', 'sahasrāṇi': 'thousands', 'ayutānām': 'of ayutas (a large numerical unit

• traditionally ten-thousands)', 'gavām': 'of cows', 'daśa': 'ten', 'anantaram': 'immediately after

• in succession', 'sahasreṇa': 'by/with a thousand

• in thousands (instrumental indicating repeated measure)', 'tadā': 'then', 'āsīt': 'was', 'daitya': 'O Daitya

• a member of the Daitya clan (address/vocative)', 'kā': 'what?', 'matiḥ': 'mind, intention, thought, disposition'}

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• Daitya (addressed interlocutor)
• cows (go-dāna)