Shloka 18

Devanagari script

उग्र॑ं तप: समास्थाय दिवाकरमथाश्रित: । रहस्यवेदं कृतवान्‌ सूर्यस्य द्विजसत्तम:

Transliteration

ugraṁ tapaḥ samāsthāya divākaram athāśritaḥ | rahasyavedaṁ kṛtavān sūryasya dvijasattamaḥ ||

Translation

Sang dwija terbaik menempuh tapa yang dahsyat dan berlindung pada Divākara, Sang Surya. Dengan disiplin tapa dan bhakti, ia memperoleh rahasya-veda Surya—ajaran Weda yang esoteris dan tersembunyi.

Word by Word

उग्रम्fierce, intense

तपःausterity, penance

समास्थायhaving undertaken / having resorted to

दिवाकरम्the Sun (day-maker)

अथthen, and then

आश्रितःhaving taken refuge in / having resorted to

रहस्यवेदम्the secret Veda/knowledge (a secret lore)

कृतवान्did, performed, composed

सूर्यस्यof the Sun

द्विजसत्तमःthe best of the twice-born (excellent Brahmin)

Speaker

लोगश उवाच

Characters & Entities

Divākara (Sūrya)

dvijasattamaḥ (an unnamed foremost Brahmin/sage)

rahasyaveda (secret Vedic knowledge)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Intense self-discipline (tapas) combined with taking refuge in a worthy divine source (here, Sūrya) is presented as a means to gain higher, guarded knowledge; spiritual attainments are shown as fruits of sustained austerity and proper orientation of devotion.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker states that a foremost Brahmin-sage performed severe austerities, sought the Sun as his refuge, and thereby acquired the Sun’s ‘rahasya-veda’—a secret or esoteric Vedic teaching—indicating a transmission of special knowledge earned through tapas.