Shloka 24

द्रौपदी-शैब्यसंवादः — Draupadī’s Identification and Counsel on Hospitality

Devanagari script

भ्रातृन्‌ पालय विस्रब्ध॑ मरुतो वृत्रहा यथा । बान्धवाश्लोपजीवन्तु देवा इव शतक़ुतुम्‌

Transliteration

bhrātṝn pālaya visrabdhaḥ maruto vṛtrahā yathā | bāndhavāś copajīvantu devā iva śatakratum ||

Translation

“Protect your brothers with confident, trusting care, just as Vṛtrahā (Indra) protects the Maruts. And let your kinsmen live supported by you, as the gods live sustained by Śatakratu (Indra).”

Word by Word

• {'bhrātṝn': 'brothers (accusative plural of bhrātṛ)', 'pālaya': 'protect, maintain, foster (imperative of √pā)', 'visrabdhaḥ': 'with confidence

• trusting, free from fear or suspicion', 'marutaḥ (marutaḥ/marutaḥ)': 'the Maruts, storm-gods

• Indra’s companions', 'vṛtrahā': 'slayer of Vṛtra

• epithet of Indra', 'yathā': 'just as, in the manner that', 'bāndhavāḥ': 'kinsmen, relatives, dependents', 'ca': 'and', 'upajīvantu': 'let them subsist/live by support (imperative/benedictive sense of upa-√jīv)', 'devāḥ': 'the gods', 'iva': 'like, as', 'śatakratum': 'Śatakratu, ‘of a hundred rites/acts’

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Indra
• Maruts
• Vṛtra (by epithet Vṛtrahā)
• Devas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A leader’s dharma is to protect and sustain: care for one’s brothers with trust and steadiness, and provide a secure livelihood for relatives and dependents—like Indra, who both protects the Maruts and serves as the gods’ support.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating the epic, conveys an instruction framed through divine analogy: the addressee is urged to act as a protector and patron to brothers and kinsmen, modeled on Indra’s relationship with the Maruts and the gods.