Shloka 17

Ādi-parva Adhyāya 116 — Pāṇḍu’s Transgression of the Curse and Mādrī’s Final Charge

Devanagari script

ततोअन्यं घृतकुम्भं च समानाय्य महातपा: । त॑ चापि प्राक्षिपत्‌ तत्र कन्याभागं तपोधन:,यों कहकर महातपस्वी व्यासजीने घीसे भरा हुआ एक और घड़ा मँगाया और उन तपोधन मुनिने उस कन्याभागको उसीमें डाल दिया। भरतवंशी नरेश! इस प्रकार मैंने तुम्हें दुःशलाके जन्मका प्रसंग सुना दिया। अनघ! बोलो, अब पुन: और क्‍या कहूँ

Transliteration

tato 'nyaṃ ghṛtakumbhaṃ ca samānāyya mahātapāḥ | taṃ cāpi prākṣipat tatra kanyābhāgaṃ tapodhanaḥ ||

Translation

Alors le grand ascète fit apporter un autre vase rempli de beurre clarifié (ghṛta). Le sage, riche en austérités, y déposa aussi la part destinée à la jeune fille. Ô roi de la lignée de Bharata, ainsi t’ai-je rapporté l’histoire de la naissance de Duḥśalā ; ô irréprochable, dis-moi : que puis-je encore redire ?

Word by Word

• {'tataḥ': 'then, thereafter', 'anyaṃ': 'another, a second', 'ghṛta-kumbham': 'a jar/pot filled with ghee (clarified butter)', 'samānāyya': 'having caused to be brought

• having summoned', 'mahā-tapāḥ': 'one of great austerities

• great ascetic', 'tam api': 'that also

• into that as well', 'prākṣipat': 'threw/placed/put in', 'tatra': 'there, in that place/vessel', 'kanyā-bhāgam': 'the maiden’s share/portion (the female part/embryonic portion)', 'tapo-dhanaḥ': 'one whose wealth is austerity

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• ghṛtakumbha (ghee-jar/pot)
• kanyābhāga (maiden’s portion)
• Duḥśalā (by contextual continuation)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage underscores the Mahābhārata’s recurring idea that tapas (ascetic discipline) functions as a real power shaping outcomes—especially in extraordinary births and lineage-continuity narratives—while the narrator (Vyāsa) frames the account as a completed, responsibly transmitted tradition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa describes a ritual-like act: another ghee-filled pot is brought, and the ‘maiden’s portion’ is placed into it. In the surrounding context, this is part of the account explaining the birth of Duḥśalā, after which Vyāsa signals that he has finished narrating that episode.