Shloka 64

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

Devanagari script

पितोवाच रूपेण सदृशस्त्वं मे शीलेन च दमेन च | परीक्षितश्न बहुधा सक्तूनादझि ते सुत,पिताने कहा--बेटा! तुम रूप, शील (सदाचार और सद्भाव) तथा इन्द्रियसंयमके द्वारा मेरे ही समान हो। तुम्हारे इन गुणोंकी मैंने अनेक बार परीक्षा कर ली है, अतः मैं तुम्हारा सत्तू लेता हूँ

Transliteration

pitovāca rūpeṇa sadṛśas tvaṃ me śīlena ca damena ca | parīkṣitaś ca bahudhā saktūn adya hi te suta ||

Translation

The father said: “In appearance you are like me, and so too in conduct and in self-restraint. I have tested you in many ways; therefore, my son, today I accept your offering of roasted barley-flour.”

Word by Word

• {'pitā uvāca': 'the father said', 'rūpeṇa': 'by appearance, in form', 'sadṛśaḥ': 'similar, like', 'tvam': 'you', 'me': 'to me, mine', 'śīlena': 'by character

• good conduct, moral disposition', 'ca': 'and', 'damena': 'by self-control

• restraint of the senses', 'parīkṣitaḥ': 'tested, examined', 'bahudhā': 'in many ways, repeatedly', 'saktūn': 'saktu

• roasted barley-flour (a simple food/oblation)', 'adya': 'today, now', 'hi': 'indeed, surely', 'te': 'your, of you', 'suta': 'son'}

Speaker

पुत्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Father (pitā)
• Son (suta)
• Saktu (roasted barley-flour)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True worth is shown through śīla (upright conduct) and dama (sense-restraint), not merely through outward resemblance; only after repeated testing should one grant trust and acceptance.

What is happening in the narrative?

A father addresses his son, praises his likeness in form and virtues, states that he has examined him many times, and therefore accepts the son’s simple offering of saktu as a sign of approval and relationship.