Shloka 87

Śārṅgakānāṃ Avināśaḥ (Why the Śārṅga Birds Were Spared) | शार्ङ्गकानामविनाशः

Devanagari script

जातकर्माण्यानुपूर्व्याच्चूडोपनयनानि च । चकार विधिवद्‌ धौम्यस्तेषां भरतसत्तम,भरतश्रेष्ठ! पुरोहित धौम्यने क्रमश: उन सभी बालकोंके जातकर्म, चूड़ाकरण और उपनयन आदि संस्कार विधिपूर्वक सम्पन्न किये

Transliteration

jātakarmāṇy anupūrvyāc cūḍopanayanāni ca | cakāra vidhivad dhaumyas teṣāṃ bharatasattama ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Entonces, en el debido orden, Dhaumya—el sacerdote de la familia—realizó para aquellos muchachos, conforme a los ritos prescritos, los sacramentos que comienzan con el jātakarma (ritual del nacimiento) e incluyen la tonsura (cūḍākaraṇa) y la iniciación con el cordón sagrado (upanayana), oh el mejor de los Bhāratas.»

Word by Word

जातकर्माणिbirth-rites (jātakarma ceremonies)

अनुपूर्व्यात्in due order / sequentially (lit. from sequence)

चand

चूडोपनयनानिtonsure and initiation (cūḍā and upanayana rites)

चand

चकारperformed / did

विधिवत्according to rule; duly

धौम्यःDhaumya (the priest)

तेषाम्of them (of those boys)

भरतसत्तमO best of the Bharatas

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dhaumya

Bharatas (dynasty)

the boys (princes/children referred to in context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma through disciplined formation: even powerful royal children are shaped by properly ordered saṃskāras performed vidhivat by an authorized purohita/ācārya, emphasizing legitimacy, restraint, and continuity of sacred tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that Dhaumya, serving as family priest, carried out the boys’ life-cycle rites—jātakarma, cūḍākaraṇa, and upanayana—in correct sequence and according to ritual rules, marking their formal entry into social-religious duties and Vedic study.