Shloka 1133

Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha

Devanagari script

आशया परया प्राप्तो न चाहं काज्चनीकृतः । इसी उद्देश्यसे मैं बड़े हर्ष और उत्साहके साथ बारंबार अनेकानेक तपोवनों और यज्ञस्थलोंमें जाया-आया करता हूँ। परम बुद्धिमान्‌ कुरुराज युधिष्ठिरके इस यज्ञका बड़ा भारी शोर सुनकर मैं बड़ी आशा लगाये यहाँ आया था; किंतु मेरा शरीर यहाँ सोनेका न हो सका

Transliteration

āśayā parayā prāpto na cāhaṃ kāñcanīkṛtaḥ |

Translation

The speaker says: “I came here sustained by the highest hope, yet I have not been transformed into gold.” In context, he implies that he has long wandered to many hermitages and sacrificial grounds, drawn by the fame of great rites; hearing the immense renown of King Yudhiṣṭhira’s sacrifice, he arrived expecting a wondrous result, but his expectation has not been fulfilled—hinting that mere proximity to ritual fame does not automatically confer inner merit or miraculous reward.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'āśayā', 'definition': 'with hope

• by expectation (instrumental of āśā/āśaya)'}, {'term': 'parayā', 'definition': 'supreme, highest, intense (instrumental feminine of para)'}, {'term': 'prāptaḥ', 'definition': 'arrived

• reached (past participle of √āp with pra-)'}, {'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and

• but'}, {'term': 'aham', 'definition': 'I'}, {'term': 'kāñcanīkṛtaḥ', 'definition': 'made into gold

Speaker

श्षशुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kuru king (Kuru-rāja)
• Aśvamedha (horse sacrifice, implied by context)