Shloka 34

Devanagari script

अथवा ते मतिस्तत्र राजपुत्रि न वर्तते । यावच्छाल्वपतिं वीर॑ योजयाम्यत्र कर्मणि,अथवा राजकुमारी! यदि वहाँ जानेका तेरा विचार न हो तो मैं वीर शाल्वराजको ही पहले इस कार्यमें नियुक्त करूँ: (उसके साथ तेरा ब्याह करा दूँ)

Transliteration

athavā te matis tatra rājaputri na vartate | yāvac chālvapatiṁ vīraṁ yojayāmy atra karmaṇi ||

Translation

“Atau, wahai putri raja, bila tekadmu bukan untuk pergi ke sana, maka akan kutugaskan terlebih dahulu raja Śālva yang gagah untuk urusan ini—yakni, akan kuatur pernikahanmu dengannya.”

Word by Word

अथवाor else

तेof you / your

मतिःintention, thought

तत्रthere

राजपुत्रिO princess

नnot

वर्ततेexists, is (present)

यावत्as long as / until

शाल्वपतिम्the lord of Śālva (Śālva-king)

वीरO hero

योजयामिI appoint / I engage / I yoke

अत्रhere

कर्मणिin the task / in the action

Speaker

राम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Rāma (speaker)

Rājaputrī (princess)

Śālva-pati (king of Śālva)

Śālva (kingdom)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

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 how royal duty and political-social obligations can drive decisions like marriage alliances; it also implicitly raises the ethical tension between personal intention (mati) and authoritative arrangement by a guardian/king.

What is happening in the narrative?

Rāma addresses a princess: if she does not intend to go to the proposed place/plan, he will instead engage the heroic king of Śālva in the matter—explicitly by arranging her marriage with him.