Shloka 1

Devanagari script

अपन क्रात बछ। अर: - किसी-किसी टीकाकारने 'सिध्मा' का अर्थ 'खाँसी' और “दमा” भी किया है। परंतु कोष-प्रसिद्ध अर्थ 'सफेद दाग या सेहुँँवा' ही है। चतुर्राधिकत्रिशततमो< ध्याय: प्रकृतिके संसर्गदोषसे जीवका पतन वसिष्ठ उवाच एवमप्रतिबुद्धत्वादबुद्धजनसेवनात्‌ । सर्गकोटि सहस्राणि पतनान्तानि गच्छति,वसिष्ठजी कहते हैं--राजन्‌! इस तरह अज्ञानके कारण अज्ञानी पुरुषोंका संग करनेसे जीवका निरन्तर पतन होता है तथा उसे हजारों-करोड़ बार जन्म लेने पड़ते हैं

Transliteration

Vasiṣṭha uvāca: evam apratibuddhatvād abuddhajana-sevanāt | sarga-koṭi-sahasrāṇi patanāntāni gacchati ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha said: “O King, in this way—through remaining unawakened (to true discernment) and through associating with the ignorant—a living being undergoes continual decline, passing through countless cycles of creation, ending again and again in downfall.”

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

अप्रतिबुद्धत्वात्from (due to) non-awakening / lack of realization

अबुद्धजनसेवनात्from associating with ignorant people

सर्गकोटिसहस्राणिthousands of crores of creations/birth-cycles

पतनान्तानिending in downfall

गच्छतिgoes, undergoes

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

King (Rājan)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A person’s moral and spiritual trajectory is shaped by discernment and companionship: lack of awakening (apratibuddhatva) and association with the ignorant (abuddhajana-sevā) lead to repeated downfall across innumerable cycles of worldly existence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha addresses a king and explains a causal chain: ignorance leads one to keep company with the unwise, and that company reinforces ignorance, resulting in continual degradation and repeated rebirths described as vast ‘cycles of creation’ ending in fall.