Shloka 15

उपहार-विधानम्, यक्षपूजा, रत्ननिध्युद्धारः

Offerings to Tryambaka; Yakṣa honors; Excavation of the Treasure

Devanagari script

श्र॒ुत्वा तु तेषां द्विजसत्तमानां कृतोपवासा रजनीं नरेन्द्रा: । ऊषु: प्रतीता: कुशसंस्तरेषु यथाध्वरे प्रज्वलिता हुताशा:

Transliteration

śrutvā tu teṣāṃ dvijasattamānāṃ kṛtopavāsā rajanīṃ narendrāḥ | ūṣuḥ pratītāḥ kuśasaṃstareṣu yathādhvare prajvalitā hutāśāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: Al oír las palabras de aquellos más excelsos entre los nacidos dos veces, los reyes (los Pāṇḍavas) guardaron ayuno durante la noche y se recostaron, confiados, sobre lechos de hierba kuśa. Parecían fuegos sagrados que arden en un sacrificio: firmes, purificados y disciplinados, asentados en el recinto ritual.

Word by Word

• श्रुत्वा: having heard
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• तेषाम्: of them
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम)
• Form: masculine/neuter, genitive, plural

• द्विजसत्तमानाम्: of the best of the twice-born (Brahmins)
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्विजसत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, genitive, plural

• कृतोपवासाः: having performed fasting / having fasted
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृतोपवास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• रजनीम्: the night
• रजनीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: रजनी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• नरेन्द्राः: kings (lords of men)
• नरेन्द्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरेन्द्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• ऊषुः: they stayed / they dwelt / they lay (rested)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वस् (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (perfect), 3rd, plural, परस्मैपद

• प्रतीताः: appearing / seeming / well-pleased
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रतीत (प्रातिपदिक; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त from प्र+इ)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• कुशसंस्तरेषु: on beds/spreads of kuśa grass
• कुशसंस्तरेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुशसंस्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, locative, plural

• यथा: as/just as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा

• अध्वरे: in a sacrifice (rite)
• अध्वरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• प्रज्वलिताः: blazing / kindled
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रज्वलित (प्रातिपदिक; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त from प्र+ज्वल्)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

• हुताशाः: fires (lit. those whose food is oblation)
• हुताशाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हुताश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• dvijasattamāḥ (foremost brāhmaṇas)
• narendrāḥ (the kings/Pāṇḍavas)
• kuśa grass (ritual bedding)
• hutāśa (sacrificial fire)
• adhvara (sacrifice/ritual)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights disciplined receptivity to righteous counsel: after hearing the brāhmaṇas, the rulers adopt austerity (fasting) and ritual purity (kuśa bedding), embodying steadiness and sanctity like sacrificial fires—suggesting that ethical kingship is sustained by self-restraint and reverence for dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

After receiving the words/instructions of eminent brāhmaṇas, the kings (understood as the Pāṇḍavas in context) keep a night-long fast and sleep on kuśa grass mats, appearing serene and radiant, compared to fires blazing in a sacrificial rite.