Shloka 17

Garuḍa’s Breach of the Amṛta-Guard and Boons with Viṣṇu; Encounter with Indra (Ādi-parva, Adhyāya 29)

Devanagari script

विभागं कीर्तयत्येव सुप्रतीको हि नित्यश: । अथाब्रवीच्च त॑ भ्राता सुप्रतीक॑ विभावसु:,सुप्रतीक प्रतिदिन बँटवारेके लिये आग्रह करते ही रहते थे। तब एक दिन बड़े भाई विभावसुने सुप्रतीकसे कहा--

Transliteration

vibhāgaṃ kīrtayaty eva supratīko hi nityaśaḥ | athābravīc ca taṃ bhrātā vibhāvasuḥ supratīkam ||

Translation

Supratīka kept insisting, day after day, on a formal division of shares. Then, on one such day, his elder brother Vibhāvasu addressed Supratīka—setting the stage for a conversation about rightful allotment, restraint, and the ethics of demanding one’s due.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'vibhāga', 'definition': 'division

• distribution of shares (often of property or rights)'}, {'term': 'kīrtayati', 'definition': 'declares

• keeps bringing up'}, {'term': 'eva', 'definition': 'indeed

• emphatically'}, {'term': 'hi', 'definition': 'for

• indeed (particle of emphasis/explanation)'}, {'term': 'nityaśaḥ', 'definition': 'constantly

• repeatedly'}, {'term': 'atha', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter (narrative transition)'}, {'term': 'abravīt', 'definition': 'said

• spoke'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and

• also'}, {'term': 'tam', 'definition': 'to him

• that person (accusative singular)'}, {'term': 'bhrātā', 'definition': 'brother (here: elder brother as speaker)'}]

Speaker

कश्यप उवाच

Characters & Entities

• कश्यप (Kaśyapa)
• सुप्रतीक (Supratīka)
• विभावसु (Vibhāvasu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Repeated insistence on one’s share (vibhāga) can become ethically charged: dharma requires that claims be pursued with restraint, clarity, and regard for familial harmony. The verse frames a moral situation where speech and counsel are needed to prevent a dispute from hardening into conflict.

What is happening in the narrative?

Supratīka continually presses for a division of shares. In response, his elder brother Vibhāvasu finally speaks to him, marking the beginning of an admonition or negotiation about how the division should be handled.