Shloka 22

Draupadī’s Lament and Theodicy: Dharma, Dice, and Īśvara’s Governance (Āraṇyaka-parva 31)

Devanagari script

यस्य नार्ष प्रमाणं स्याच्छिष्टाचारक्ष भाविनि । न वै तस्य परो लोको नायमस्तीति निश्चय:,भाविनि! जिसकी दृष्टिमें ऋषियोंके वचन और शिष्ट पुरुषोंके आचार प्रमाणभूत नहीं हैं, उसके लिये न यह लोक है और न परलोक, यह तत्त्ववेत्ता महापुरुषोंका निश्चय है

Transliteration

yasya nārṣa-pramāṇaṁ syāc chiṣṭācāra-kṣa-bhāvini | na vai tasya paro loko nāyam astīti niścayaḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O noble lady, for one who does not accept the seers’ testimony as authoritative, nor the established conduct of the virtuous as a guiding standard, there is—so the knowers of truth conclude—neither this world nor the next. Such a person is left without any secure ground for life, duty, or meaning.”

Word by Word

यस्यof whom/whose

नnot

आर्षम्of the seers; rishi-based

प्रमाणम्authority; valid means (of knowledge)

स्यात्would be/is (as a possibility/condition)

शिष्टाचारःconduct of the learned/virtuous (good custom)

चand

भाविनिO future one!/O (you) destined one! (vocative address)

नnot

वैindeed; certainly

तस्यfor him/of him

परःother; next (i.e., beyond)

लोकःworld; realm

नnot

अयम्this (world/one)

अस्तिis/exists

इतिthus; 'so'

निश्चयःcertainty; settled conclusion

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Ṛ

ṛṣis (seers)

śiṣṭa (the virtuous/exemplary people)

this world (ayam lokaḥ)

the other world (para lokaḥ)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes