Shloka 12

Tapovana-praveśaḥ — The King’s Entry into the Sacred Grove and Vision of the Āśrama

Devanagari script

ता: प्रजा: पृथिवीपाल धर्मव्रतपरायणा: । आधिभिव्यचिभिश्वैव विमुक्ता: सर्वशो नरा:,भूपाल! उस समयकी प्रजा धर्म एवं व्रतके पालनमें तत्पर रहती थी; अतः सभी लोग रोगों तथा मानसिक चिन्ताओंसे मुक्त रहते थे

Transliteration

tāḥ prajāḥ pṛthivīpāla dharmavrataparāyaṇāḥ | ādhibhir vyādhibhiś caiva vimuktāḥ sarvaśo narāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, the people in those days were devoted to dharma and steadfast in their sacred vows. Therefore, all men were entirely free from mental afflictions and bodily diseases.”

Word by Word

ताःthose

प्रजाःsubjects, people

पृथिवीपालO king (protector of the earth)

धर्मव्रतपरायणाःdevoted to dharma and vows

आधिभिःby mental afflictions, anxieties

व्याधिभिःby diseases

एवindeed, just

विमुक्ताःfreed, released

सर्वशःentirely, in every way

नराःmen, people

भूपालO king

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

pṛthivīpāla (the king addressed)

prajāḥ (the subjects/people)

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?

When a society is firmly oriented toward dharma and disciplined observance (vrata), collective well-being follows—expressed here as freedom from both mental distress (ādhi) and physical illness (vyādhi).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes to the king an earlier condition of the realm: the subjects were devoted to righteous conduct and vows, and as a result the people lived without pervasive anxiety or disease.