Shloka 27

Dambhodbhava, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and the Counsel to Abandon Hubris

Udyoga-parva 94

Devanagari script

तैरेवोपार्जितां भूमिं भोक्ष्यसे च परंतप । यदि सम्पत्स्यसे पुत्रै: सहामात्यैर्नराधिप

Transliteration

tairevopārjitāṃ bhūmiṃ bhokṣyase ca paraṃtapa | yadi sampatsyase putraiḥ sahāmātyair narādhipa ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O scorcher of foes, if you come to live in concord with your sons, together with your ministers, then you will enjoy the sovereignty of this earth—won by those very sons.”

Word by Word

• तैः: by them
• तैः: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• उपार्जिताम्: acquired/earned
• उपार्जिताम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपार्जित
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• भूमिम्: the earth/kingdom
• भूमिम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमि
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• भोक्ष्यसे: you will enjoy/possess
• Type: Verb
• Root: भुज्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), 2, Singular, Ātmanepada

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• परंतप: O scorcher of foes
• Type: Noun
• Root: परंतप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यदि: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• सम्पत्स्यसे: you will come together/agree
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + पद्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), 2, Singular, Ātmanepada

• पुत्रैः: with (your) sons
• पुत्रैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• सह: together with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सह

• अमात्यैः: with ministers/counsellors
• अमात्यैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अमात्य
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• नराधिप: O king/lord of men
• Type: Noun
• Root: नराधिप
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• narādhipa (the king addressed, i.e., Dhṛtarāṣṭra in context)
• putrāḥ (sons: Kauravas and Pāṇḍavas in the broader narrative)
• amātyāḥ (ministers/counsellors)
• bhūmi (the kingdom/earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler preserves and rightfully enjoys sovereignty through unity with his heirs and through ministerial counsel. The verse frames reconciliation as both pragmatic statecraft and a dharmic duty: the kingdom secured by collective effort should be sustained by concord, not fractured by rivalry.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates counsel directed to the king: if he settles differences and lives in harmony with his sons, supported by ministers, he will continue to enjoy the realm that those sons have effectively secured. It is a warning against internal division on the eve of escalating conflict.