Shloka 11

Devanagari script

अन्तर्वेद्यां ददद्‌ वित्तं कामाननुभवन्‌ प्रियान्‌ क्रीडन्‌ स्त्रीभिर्निरातडुक: प्रशाम्य भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ! तुम यज्ञमें धन दान करो, मनको प्रिय लगनेवाले भोग भोगो और निर्भय होकर स्त्रियोंके साथ क्रीड़ा करते हुए शान्त रहो

Transliteration

Dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca: antarvedyāṁ dadad vittaṁ kāmān anubhavan priyān krīḍan strībhir nirātaṅkaḥ praśāmya bharatarṣabha.

Translation

Dijo Dhṛtarāṣṭra: «Oh toro entre los Bharata, permanece en paz: haz donaciones de riqueza dentro del recinto del sacrificio, goza de los placeres que tu mente estima y, libre de temor y de zozobra, diviértete con las mujeres y mantente sereno».

Word by Word

अन्तर्वेद्याम्in the inner sacrificial enclosure (antarvedi)

ददत्giving

वित्तम्wealth

कामान्desires/pleasures

अनुभवन्enjoying/experiencing

प्रियान्dear/pleasing

क्रीडन्sporting/playing

स्त्रीभिःwith women

निरातङ्कःfearless/without anxiety

प्रशाम्यhaving become calm; calming down

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

भरतश्रेष्ठO best of the Bharatas

Speaker

घतरयाट्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Bharata (dynastic reference)

antarvedī/vedī (sacrificial enclosure)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents a model of worldly pacification: peace is sought through ritual giving (dāna in the sacrificial space) and the sanctioned enjoyment of pleasures (kāma), coupled with a call to be ‘nirātaṅka’—free from anxiety. Ethically, it reflects a tension in the epic between outward prosperity/ritual merit and deeper justice-oriented dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses a Bharata hero (honorific ‘bharatarṣabha’), advising him to settle down calmly by donating wealth in a sacrificial context and enjoying agreeable pleasures without fear—an attempt to soothe, normalize, or redirect conduct through ritual and comfort.