Shloka 22

राजपूजाविधानम् / Royal Reception Protocols during Āśvamedha Preparations

Devanagari script

अभिषूय ततो राजन्‌ सोम॑ सोमपसत्तमा: । सवनान्यानुपूव्येण चक्रुः शास्त्रानुसारिण:

Transliteration

abhisūya tato rājan somaṃ somapasattamāḥ | savanāny ānupūrvyena cakruḥ śāstrānusāriṇaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «Alors, ô Roi, les plus éminents buveurs de Soma—des savants qui agissaient selon les injonctions des śāstra—pressèrent le Soma et, dans l’ordre prescrit, accomplirent les trois pressages (rites de savana) à leurs heures propres.»

Word by Word

• अभिषूय: having pressed (the Soma)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अभि-√सू (सुवति)
• Form: ल्यप् (क्त्वा-प्रत्ययार्थक अव्यय), कर्तरि, having pressed/extracted

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• सोमम्: Soma (juice/plant)
• सोमम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सोमपसत्तमाः: the best of Soma-drinkers
• सोमपसत्तमाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोमपसत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सवनानि: pressings/offerings (savana rites)
• सवनानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सवन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• अनुपूर्व्येण: in due order, successively
• अनुपूर्व्येण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अनुपूर्व्य
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• चक्रुः: they performed/did
• Type: Verb
• Root: √कृ (करोति)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd, Plural, Parasmaipada

• शास्त्रानुसारिणः: following the injunctions of the scriptures
• शास्त्रानुसारिणः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शास्त्रानुसारिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Soma
• savana (three Soma pressings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes dharma as disciplined adherence to śāstra: sacred acts are to be performed in the prescribed manner and sequence, showing that ritual integrity and order are ethical commitments within Vedic practice.

What is happening in the narrative?

During the sacrificial proceedings, qualified learned participants press the Soma and carry out the three savana rites in their proper order and times, marking the correct execution of the Soma component of the ceremony.