Shloka 16

Adhyāya 136: Yavakrī–Bharadvāja Saṃvāda and the Bāladhī–Dhanuṣākṣa Gāthā

Arrogance, Boons, and Nimitta

Devanagari script

पर्यतप्यत तेजस्वी मन्युनाभिपरिप्लुत: । तपस्तेपे ततो घोरं वेदज्ञानाय पाण्डव,यह देख तेजस्वी यवक्रीतको बड़ा संताप हुआ। पाण्डुनन्दन! वे क्रोधसे आविष्ट हो वेदोंका ज्ञान प्राप्त करनेके लिये घोर तपस्यामें लग गये

Transliteration

paryatapyata tejasvī manyunābhipariplutaḥ | tapastepe tato ghoraṃ vedajñānāya pāṇḍava ||

Translation

Lomaśa said: “Burning inwardly, the radiant one—overwhelmed by anger—then undertook a fierce austerity, O Pāṇḍava, seeking the knowledge of the Vedas.” The verse frames a moral tension: intense resentment is redirected into ascetic effort, showing how a powerful emotion can drive spiritual striving, even as its ethical purity remains questionable.

Word by Word

• पर्यतप्यत: was tormented / suffered heat (was distressed)
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• तेजस्वी: the radiant one / illustrious (man)
• तेजस्वी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तेजस्विन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मन्युना: by anger
• मन्युना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मन्यु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• अभिपरिप्लुतः: overwhelmed / flooded (with)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अभि-परि-√प्लु (धातु) → प्लुत (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, क्त (past passive participle)

• तपः: austerity, penance
• तपः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• तेपे: performed (austerity) / did penance
• Type: Verb
• Root: तप् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Ātmanepada

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)

• घोरम्: terrible, severe
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• वेदज्ञानाय: for (attaining) knowledge of the Veda(s)
• वेदज्ञानाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद-ज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Dative, Singular

• पाण्डव: O Pāṇḍava
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

लोमश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• लोमश (Lomaśa)
• पाण्डव (Pāṇḍava—address to Yudhiṣṭhira)
• वेद (Veda)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how intense emotions—especially anger—can propel a person toward rigorous spiritual effort; yet it implicitly invites reflection on motive: seeking sacred knowledge is elevated, but being driven by wrath suggests inner purification is still needed.

What is happening in the narrative?

Lomaśa narrates that a ‘tejasvī’ figure, overwhelmed by anger, turns to severe austerities with the aim of attaining Vedic knowledge, addressing the Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira) as the listener.