Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 1

Kṛṣṇasya Dvārakā-praveśaḥ — Krishna’s Return to Dvārakā and the Raivataka Festival

Devanagari script

ऑपनआक्राता बछ। 2 अष्टपञज्चाशत्तमो< ध्याय: कुण्डल लेकर उत्तंकका लौटना

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | sa mitrasaham āsādya abhijñānam ayācata | tasmai dadāv abhijñānaṃ sa cekṣvākuvaras tadā |

Translation

वैशम्पायन बोले—उत्तंक राजा मित्रसह (सौदास) के पास गया और पहचान के लिए एक चिह्न माँगा। तब इक्ष्वाकुवंश के उस श्रेष्ठ नरेश ने रानी तक पहुँचाने हेतु एक ऐसा प्रमाण-चिह्न दिया, जिससे उत्तंक का संदेश सत्य और विश्वसनीय मानकर स्वीकार किया जाए।

Word by Word

• वैशम्पायनः: Vaiśampāyana
• वैशम्पायनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैशम्पायन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मित्रसहम्: Mitrasa(h)a (king Mitrasaha/Saudāsa)
• मित्रसहम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मित्रसह
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आसाद्य: having approached
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-√सद्
• Form: Lyap (absolutive/gerund), Active

• अभिज्ञानम्: a token of recognition
• अभिज्ञानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभिज्ञान
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अयाचत: asked/begged
• Type: Verb
• Root: याच्
• Form: Imperfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• तस्मै: to him
• तस्मै: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• ददौ: gave
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: Perfect, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अभिज्ञानम्: a token of recognition
• अभिज्ञानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभिज्ञान
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• इक्ष्वाकुवरः: the best of the Ikṣvāku line
• इक्ष्वाकुवरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: इक्ष्वाकुवर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Uttanka
• Mitrasaha (Saudāsa)
• Ikṣvāku dynasty
• Queen (implied recipient of the message/token)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even truthful speech needs credible verification in social and royal contexts; dharma includes safeguarding communication from fraud by using recognized tokens (abhijñāna).

What is happening in the narrative?

Uttanka goes to King Mitrasaha and asks for a sign of recognition so that the queen will accept his message; the king provides an identifying token to authenticate Uttanka’s words.