Shloka 24

Gaya’s Seven Aśvamedhas, Payoṣṇī Snāna, and the Śaryāti Sacrifice Locale

Lomaśa–Yudhiṣṭhira Dialogue

Devanagari script

नासत्यौ च कथं ब्रह्मन्‌ कृतवान्‌ सोमपीथिनौ । एतत्‌ सर्व यथावृत्तमाख्यातु भगवान्‌ मम,तथा ब्रह्मन! उन्होंने अश्विनीकुमारोंको यज्ञ़में सोमपानका अधिकारी किस प्रकार बनाया? ये सब बातें आप यथार्थरूपसे मुझे बतावें

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: Nāsatyau ca kathaṃ brahman kṛtavān somapīthinau? Etat sarvaṃ yathāvṛttam ākhyātu bhagavān mama.

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Brāhmaṇa, how did you make the two Nāsatyas (the Aśvin twins) entitled to drink Soma in the sacrifice? Please recount to me, exactly as it happened, the whole of this matter.”

Word by Word

• नासत्यौ: the two Nasatyas (Ashvin twins)
• नासत्यौ: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नासत्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Dual

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

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्

• ब्रह्मन्: O Brahmin / O sage
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• कृतवान्: made / caused (to be)
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु) + क्तवतु (कृतवान्)
• Form: Perfective past (क्तवतु, past participle used finitely), 3rd, Singular, Masculine

• सोमपीथिनौ: entitled to drink Soma / Soma-drinkers
• सोमपीथिनौ: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सोमपीथिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Dual

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सर्वम्: all (of it)
• सर्वम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• यथा: as / in the manner that
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• वृत्तम्: happened / occurred
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वृत्त (प्रातिपदिक; from √वृत्/√वृत्त् in sense 'occurred')
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• आख्यातुम्: to narrate / to tell
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√ख्या (धातु) + तुमुन्
• Form: Infinitive

• भगवान्: the venerable one / revered sir
• भगवान्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मम: to me / of me
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• युधिष्ठिर (Yudhiṣṭhira)
• नासत्यौ / अश्विनीकुमारौ (Nāsatyas / Aśvin twins)
• सोम (Soma)
• यज्ञ (sacrifice; implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds fidelity to truth and proper procedure: Yudhiṣṭhira requests an exact account of how ritual eligibility (adhikāra) was established for the Aśvins, implying that even divine privileges are grounded in articulated reasons and authoritative tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a Brāhmaṇa/sage and asks him to explain, step by step, how the Aśvin twins came to be granted the right to partake of Soma in a sacrifice, requesting a precise narration of the events.