Shloka 46
Nakula’s Declaration and the Uñchavṛtti Brāhmaṇa’s Superior Merit (Āśvamedhika Parva, Adhyāya 92)
वशे स्थितोऊहं त्वय्यद्य क्षमावति महात्मनि । बिभेमि तपस: साधो प्रसाद कुरु मे प्रभो,'प्रभो! आज मैं आपके वशमें हूँ। आपकी तपस्यासे डरता हूँ। साधो! आप क्षमाशील महात्मा हैं, मुझपर कृपा कीजिये'
vaśe sthito ’haṃ tvayy adya kṣamāvati mahātmani | bibhemi tapasaḥ sādho prasāda kuru me prabho ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Today I stand wholly under your control, O great-souled one, patient and forgiving by nature. I fear the power of your austerity, O holy man. Be gracious to me, O lord—show me your favor.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical restraint in the presence of spiritual power: one should approach the ascetic (whose tapas is formidable) with humility, acknowledge their capacity for forgiveness (kṣamā), and seek reconciliation through respectful supplication rather than confrontation.
The speaker (introduced as Vaiśampāyana) voices a plea to a powerful, ascetic, great-souled person: he declares himself under that person’s authority, admits fear of the ascetic’s tapas, and requests gracious favor—signaling a moment of appeasement and seeking protection or pardon.