Shloka 103

Devanagari script

यक्ष उवाच अक्षयो नरक: केन प्राप्यते भरतर्षभ । एतनमे मृच्छत: प्रश्ननं तच्छीघ्र॑ वक्तुमहसि,यक्षने पूछा--भरतश्रेष्ठ) अक्षय नरक किस पुरुषको प्राप्त होता है? मेरे इस प्रश्नका शीघ्र ही उत्तर दो

Transliteration

yakṣa uvāca | akṣayo narakaḥ kena prāpyate bharatarṣabha | etan me pṛcchataḥ praśnaṃ tac chīghraṃ vaktum arhasi ||

Translation

Yaksha berkata: “Wahai yang termulia di antara keturunan Bharata, dengan perilaku apakah seseorang memperoleh neraka yang tiada berakhir? Jawablah pertanyaanku ini dengan segera.”

Word by Word

यक्षःYaksha

उवाचsaid

अक्षयःimperishable; endless

नरकःhell

केनby whom? by what (person)?

प्राप्यतेis attained; is reached

भरतर्षभO bull among the Bharatas

Speaker

यक्ष उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yakṣa

Bharatarṣabha (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharma-inquiry: actions have consequences, and some forms of adharma are portrayed as leading to prolonged or ‘unending’ suffering. It urges moral clarity and accountability by demanding a precise ethical cause for such a fate.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Yaksha–Yudhiṣṭhira dialogue at the forest lake, the Yaksha tests Yudhiṣṭhira’s discernment through rapid questions. Here the Yaksha asks what kind of conduct causes one to attain ‘akṣaya naraka’ (unending hell), pressing him to answer promptly.