Shloka 233

आरण्यकपर्वणि अध्यायः २१६ — इन्द्र-स्कन्द-संमुखता वज्रप्रहारश्च

Indra approaches Skanda; vajra strike and the arising of Viśākha

Devanagari script

संसर्गाद्‌ धनुषि श्रेष्ठस्ततो 5हमभवं द्विज । ब्राह्मण! अपने ही दोषोंके कारण मुझे इस दुरवस्थामें आना पड़ा है। पूर्वजन्ममें जब मैं ब्राह्मण था, एक धरनुर्वेद-परायण राजाके साथ मेरी मित्रता हो गयी थी। उनके संसर्गसे मैं धनुर्वेदकी शिक्षा लेने लगा और धनुष चलानेकी कलामें मैंने श्रेष्ठ योग्यता प्राप्त कर ली

Transliteration

saṃsargād dhanuṣi śreṣṭhas tato ’ham abhavaṃ dvija | brāhmaṇa! apane hī doṣoṃ ke kāraṇa mujhe is duravasthā meṃ ānā paṛā hai | pūrvajanmani yadāhaṃ brāhmaṇo ’bhavaṃ, dhanuḥvedaparāyaṇena rājñā saha me maitrī samajāyata | tasya saṃsargāt ahaṃ dhanuḥvedasya śikṣāṃ jagrāha, dhanuḥcalanakale ca mayā śreṣṭhā yogyatā prāptā ||

Translation

Le Chasseur dit : «Par la fréquentation, je devins le plus éminent dans l’usage de l’arc, ô deux-fois-né. Ô Brahmane, c’est par mes propres fautes que je suis tombé dans cette condition misérable. Dans une vie antérieure, lorsque j’étais brāhmaṇa, je me liai d’amitié avec un roi voué à la science du tir à l’arc. À force de le côtoyer, je m’exerçai à cette discipline et j’atteignis une habileté exceptionnelle dans l’art de bander et de tirer l’arc.»

Word by Word

• {'saṃsarga': 'association, close company, influence of companionship', 'dhanuṣ': 'bow', 'dhanuḥveda': 'the science/discipline of archery and weapons', 'śreṣṭha': 'excellent, foremost', 'dvija': 'twice-born

• a Brahmin (also Kṣatriya/Vaiśya in general usage)', 'brāhmaṇa': 'Brahmin

• member of the priestly class', 'doṣa': 'fault, moral failing, defect', 'duravasthā': 'wretched state, misfortune, degraded condition', 'pūrvajanman': 'former birth, previous life', 'maitrī': 'friendship', 'parāyaṇa': 'wholly devoted to, intent upon', 'śikṣā': 'training, instruction', 'kalā': 'art, technique', 'yogyatā': 'competence, capability, proficiency', 'prāpta': 'attained, obtained'}

Speaker

व्याध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• vyādha (the hunter; speaker)
• dvija/brāhmaṇa (addressee)
• a former-life brāhmaṇa (the speaker in past birth)
• a king devoted to dhanuḥveda
• dhanuṣ (bow)
• dhanuḥveda (science of archery)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage stresses moral causality and the power of association: one’s present condition can arise from one’s own faults, and companionship (saṃsarga) shapes skills and tendencies—therefore skill must be guided by dharma, and one should choose influences carefully.

What is happening in the narrative?

The hunter explains his background: he attributes his degraded state to his own failings, recounts that in a previous life he was a Brahmin, befriended a king devoted to archery, learned dhanuḥveda through that association, and became highly proficient with the bow.