Shloka 40

मातापितृपूजन-प्रधानधर्मः (Primacy of Filial Service) — Mārkaṇḍeya’s Account of the Vyādha’s Instruction

Devanagari script

दृढाश्वः कपिलाश्वश्न चन्द्राश्वश्वैव भारत । तेभ्य: परम्परा राजन्निक्ष्वाकूणां महात्मनाम्‌

Transliteration

Dṛḍhāśvaḥ Kapilāśvaś ca Candrāśvaś caiva Bhārata | tebhyaḥ paramparā rājan Ikṣvākūṇāṃ mahātmanām ||

Translation

Mārkaṇḍeya said: “O Bhārata, Dṛḍhāśva, Kapilāśva, and likewise Candrāśva—through them, O king, the noble Ikṣvāku line continued in unbroken succession.”

Word by Word

दृढाश्वःDṛḍhāśva (a king/person named ‘Firm-horsed’)

कपिलाश्वःKapilāśva (a king/person named ‘Tawny-horsed’)

चand

चन्द्राश्वःCandrāśva (a king/person named ‘Moon-horsed’)

चand

एवindeed/just

भारतO Bhārata (descendant of Bharata)

तेभ्यःfrom them

परम्पराsuccession/lineage (tradition of descent)

राजन्O king

इक्ष्वाकूणाम्of the Ikṣvākus (Ikṣvāku dynasty)

महात्मनाम्of the great-souled (noble ones)

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Dṛḍhāśva

Kapilāśva

Candrāśva

Ikṣvāku dynasty

Bhārata (addressee)

Rājan (king; addressee)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the importance of paramparā—legitimate succession and continuity of noble conduct in a royal dynasty—implying that kingship is sustained not merely by power but by orderly transmission of responsibility and dharma across generations.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya is recounting a dynastic genealogy: he lists successive kings (Dṛḍhāśva, Kapilāśva, Candrāśva) and states that through them the line of the great-souled Ikṣvākus continued.