Shloka 64

Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha

Devanagari script

पितोवाच रूपेण सदृशस्त्वं मे शीलेन च दमेन च | परीक्षितश्न बहुधा सक्तूनादझि ते सुत

Transliteration

pitovāca rūpeṇa sadṛśas tvaṃ me śīlena ca damena ca | parīkṣitaś ca bahudhā saktūn adya hi te suta ||

Translation

पिता ने कहा—बेटा! तुम रूप, शील और इन्द्रिय-निग्रह में मेरे ही समान हो। मैंने तुम्हारी अनेक प्रकार से परीक्षा कर ली है; इसलिए, पुत्र, आज मैं तुम्हारा सत्तू स्वीकार करता हूँ।

Word by Word

• {'pitā uvāca': 'the father said', 'rūpeṇa': 'by appearance, in form', 'sadṛśaḥ': 'similar, like', 'tvam': 'you', 'me': 'to me, mine', 'śīlena': 'by character

• good conduct, moral disposition', 'ca': 'and', 'damena': 'by self-control

• restraint of the senses', 'parīkṣitaḥ': 'tested, examined', 'bahudhā': 'in many ways, repeatedly', 'saktūn': 'saktu

• roasted barley-flour (a simple food/oblation)', 'adya': 'today, now', 'hi': 'indeed, surely', 'te': 'your, of you', 'suta': 'son'}

Speaker

पुत्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Father (pitā)
• Son (suta)
• Saktu (roasted barley-flour)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True worth is shown through śīla (upright conduct) and dama (sense-restraint), not merely through outward resemblance; only after repeated testing should one grant trust and acceptance.

What is happening in the narrative?

A father addresses his son, praises his likeness in form and virtues, states that he has examined him many times, and therefore accepts the son’s simple offering of saktu as a sign of approval and relationship.