Shloka 23

Adhyāya 223: Nāradasya Guṇa-kathana

Catalogue of Nārada’s Virtues

Devanagari script

यत्रादद: सहस्राणि अयुतानां गवां दश । अनन्तरं सहस्रेण तदा55सीद्‌ दैत्य का मति:

Transliteration

śakra uvāca | yatrādadaḥ sahasrāṇi ayutānāṃ gavāṃ daśa | anantaraṃ sahasreṇa tadā āsīd daitya kā matiḥ ||

Translation

Śakra dit : « Lorsque, maintes et maintes fois, tu distribuais des milliers de dons—chacun composé de dix ayutas de vaches—puis encore, par milliers successifs, ô Daitya, quel était alors l’état de ton esprit ? Quelles pensées naissaient en toi tandis que tu accomplissais une largesse sacrificielle si vaste ? »

Word by Word

• {'śakraḥ': 'Indra, the lord of the gods', 'uvāca': 'said', 'yatra': 'when/where (in the context: at the time when)', 'adadaḥ': 'you gave (2nd person, imperfect/aoristic sense)', 'sahasrāṇi': 'thousands', 'ayutānām': 'of ayutas (a large numerical unit

• traditionally ten-thousands)', 'gavām': 'of cows', 'daśa': 'ten', 'anantaram': 'immediately after

• in succession', 'sahasreṇa': 'by/with a thousand

• in thousands (instrumental indicating repeated measure)', 'tadā': 'then', 'āsīt': 'was', 'daitya': 'O Daitya

• a member of the Daitya clan (address/vocative)', 'kā': 'what?', 'matiḥ': 'mind, intention, thought, disposition'}

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• Daitya (addressed interlocutor)
• cows (go-dāna)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that the ethical value of immense charity and sacrificial giving is inseparable from the giver’s inner intention (mati). Even when the external act is extraordinarily grand, the crucial question is what mental disposition—pride, compassion, duty, desire for fame, or detachment—motivated it.

What is happening in the narrative?

Indra (Śakra) addresses a Daitya and asks about his inner thoughts at the time he repeatedly donated vast numbers of cows in the context of sacrificial rites. The focus shifts from the scale of the gifts to the psychological and moral state behind them.