Shloka 4

Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Devanagari script

यूयमिन्द्रसमा: सर्वे देवतुल्यपराक्रमा: । मा परेषां मुखप्रेक्षा: स्थेत्येव॑ तत्‌ कृतं मया

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

yūyam indrasamāḥ sarve devatulyaparākramāḥ |

mā pareṣāṃ mukhaprekṣāḥ sthety eva tat kṛtaṃ mayā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «Vous êtes tous égaux à Indra en puissance, et votre vaillance est celle des dieux. Ne demeurez pas dans la dépendance d’autrui — ne soyez pas contraints de lever les yeux vers un autre pour votre subsistance. C’est précisément pour cela que j’ai agi ainsi.»

Word by Word

• यूयम्: you (all)
• यूयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Prathama, Bahuvacana

• इन्द्रसमा: equal to Indra
• इन्द्रसमा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: इन्द्र-सम
• Form: Pum, Prathama, Bahuvacana

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Pum, Prathama, Bahuvacana

• देवतुल्यपराक्रमा: whose prowess is like that of the gods
• देवतुल्यपराक्रमा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: देव-तुल्य-पराक्रम
• Form: Pum, Prathama, Bahuvacana

• मा: do not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मा
• Form: prohibitive particle (with imperative/optative)

• परेषाम्: of others
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: Pum, Shashthi, Bahuvacana

• मुखप्रेक्षा: looking to others' faces (dependent on others)
• मुखप्रेक्षा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मुख-प्रेक्ष
• Form: Pum, Prathama, Bahuvacana

• स्थेत: stand / remain / be
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था
• Form: Lot (Imperative), Madhyama, Bahuvacana

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति
• Form: quotative particle

• एव: indeed / just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव
• Form: emphatic particle

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Napum, Prathama/Dvitiya, Ekavacana

• कृतम्: done
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Napum, Prathama, Ekavacana

• मया: by me
• मया: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Tritiya, Ekavacana

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Indra
• Devas (gods)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Those endowed with strength and noble capacity should not live in humiliating dependence; ethical agency includes ensuring one’s livelihood and dignity without servile reliance on others.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reports a justification: someone explains that their earlier action was undertaken so that the addressed group—praised as Indra-like and godlike in valor—would not have to depend on others for sustenance.