Shloka 6

Yuddha-yajña-vyākhyāna (The Battle as Sacrifice): Ambarīṣa–Indra Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

अमग्बरीष उवाच सागरान्तां महीं कृत्स्नामनुशास्य यथाविधि । चातुर्वण्यें यथाशास्त्र प्रवृत्ती धर्मकाम्यया,अम्बरीषने पूछा--देवराज! मैं समुद्रपर्यन्त सारी पृथ्वीका विधिपूर्वक शासन और संरक्षण करता था। शास्त्रकी आज्ञाके अनुसार धर्मकी कामनासे चारों वर्णोके पालनमें तत्पर रहता था

Transliteration

ambarīṣa uvāca | sāgarāntāṃ mahīṃ kṛtsnām anuśāsya yathāvidhi | cāturvarṇye yathāśāstraṃ pravṛttiṃ dharmakāmyayā ||

Translation

Ambarīṣa said: “O king of the gods! Having governed and protected the entire earth bounded by the ocean in the proper manner, I remained engaged—according to the injunctions of the śāstras—in the duties of the four social orders, motivated by a desire to uphold dharma.”

Word by Word

• {'ambarīṣa uvāca': 'Ambarīṣa said', 'sāgarāntām': 'bounded by the ocean

• extending to the sea', 'mahīm': 'the earth

• the realm/kingdom', 'kṛtsnām': 'entire

• whole', 'anuśāsya': 'having ruled

• having disciplined/regulated', 'yathāvidhi': 'according to proper rule

• as prescribed', 'cāturvarṇye': 'in/with regard to the four varṇas (social orders)', 'yathāśāstram': 'according to the śāstras

• scripturally', 'pravṛttim': 'engagement

• undertaking of duties', 'dharma-kāmyayā': 'with the desire for dharma

Speaker

अमग्बरीष उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Ambarīṣa
• Earth (mahī)
• Ocean/Sea (sāgara)
• Cāturvarṇya (the four varṇas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler’s legitimacy rests on governing the whole realm according to prescribed norms (vidhi/śāstra) and actively sustaining dharma through proper maintenance of social duties (cāturvarṇya), not merely through power or conquest.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ambarīṣa addresses a superior (implied by the vocative “Devarāja” in the accompanying Hindi gloss) and recounts his own conduct as a king: he ruled the earth up to the ocean’s bounds in a lawful manner and remained devoted to śāstra-guided performance of duties connected with the four varṇas, driven by commitment to dharma.