Shloka 19

Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)

Devanagari script

यदि द्वादशवर्षाणि न वर्षेष्यति वासव:

Transliteration

yadi dvādaśavarṣāṇi na varṣeṣyati vāsavaḥ |

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “If Vāsava (Indra) should not send rain for twelve years…”

Word by Word

• यदि: if
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि

• द्वादशवर्षाणि: twelve years (as a duration)
• द्वादशवर्षाणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्वादशवर्ष
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• वर्षेष्यति: will rain
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृष्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• वासवः: Vāsava (Indra)
• वासवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Vāsava (Indra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line frames rainfall as a pillar of social and moral order: when the cosmic function of rain fails (symbolized by Indra), the stability of agriculture, sacrifice, and public welfare is threatened, implying that rulers and communities must respond with dharmic responsibility in times of scarcity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana introduces a conditional scenario—Indra withholding rain for twelve years—setting up a discussion or episode about drought, its consequences, and the appropriate dharmic response to a prolonged failure of rains.