Shloka 20

नागैः सह ब्राह्मणस्य अतिथिधर्म-व्रतसंवादः | The Brahmin’s Vow and the Nāgas’ Hospitality Appeal

Devanagari script

आवामपि च धर्मस्य गृहे जातौ द्विजोत्तम । रम्यां विशालामाश्रित्य तप उग्र॑ समास्थितौ,द्विजश्रेष्ठ) हम दोनों भी धर्मके घरमें अवतीर्ण हो इस रमणीय बदरिकाश्रमतीर्थका आश्रय ले कठोर तपस्यामें संलग्न हैं

Transliteration

āvām api ca dharmasya gṛhe jātau dvijottama | ramyāṁ viśālāṁ āśritya tapa ugraṁ samāsthitau ||

Translation

Nārada berkata: “Wahai yang terbaik di antara para dwija, kami berdua pun lahir di rumah Dharma. Dengan berlindung pada pertapaan yang elok dan luas ini, kami menempuh tapa yang amat berat.”

Word by Word

आवाम्we two

अपिalso/even

चand

धर्मस्यof Dharma

गृहेin (the) house

जातौborn (having been born)

द्विजोत्तमO best of the twice-born

रम्याम्beautiful

विशालाम्vast/spacious

आश्रित्यhaving resorted to/taken refuge in

तपःausterity/penance

उग्रम्severe

समास्थितौwe two are engaged in/undertaking

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Dharma

dvijottama (addressed Brahmin/learned interlocutor)

āśrama (hermitage)

Badarikāśrama (implied by the Hindi gloss)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that true authority in dharma is grounded in disciplined living: even those connected with Dharma by birth or origin must actively uphold it through rigorous tapas (self-restraint and spiritual effort).

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada addresses a learned Brahmin and states that he and another companion were born in Dharma’s household and are now residing in a pleasant, expansive hermitage—identified in the tradition as Badarikāśrama—where they are engaged in intense austerities.