Shloka 88

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

एकार्णवे जले घोरे विचरन्‌ पार्थिवोत्तम | अपश्यन्‌ सर्वभूतानि वैक्लव्यमगमं तत:,नृपश्रेष्ठी एकार्णवके उस भयंकर जलमें विचरते हुए जब मैंने किसी भी प्राणीको नहीं देखा, तब मुझे बड़ी व्याकुलता हुई

Transliteration

Vaishampāyana uvāca | ekārṇave jale ghore vicaran pārthivottamaḥ | apaśyan sarvabhūtāni vaiklavyam agamam tataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of kings, as I wandered in the dreadful waters of a single, all-engulfing ocean, and saw no living beings anywhere, I was seized by deep distress and helpless agitation.”

Word by Word

• एकार्णवे: in the single ocean (cosmic flood)
• एकार्णवे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: एकार्णव
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• जले: in the water
• जले: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• घोरे: terrible, dreadful
• घोरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: घोर
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• विचरन्: wandering, moving about
• विचरन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर्
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पार्थिवोत्तमः: the best of kings
• पार्थिवोत्तमः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिवोत्तम
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अपश्यन्: did not see
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सर्वभूतानि: all beings
• सर्वभूतानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वभूत
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• वैक्लव्यम्: distress, agitation
• वैक्लव्यम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैक्लव्य
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अगमम्: I went/entered (came to)
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• pārthiva (the addressed king)
• ekārṇava (the single ocean/deluge)
• sarvabhūta (living beings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the psychological and ethical pressure of utter solitude amid catastrophe: when the world’s living order seems absent, the mind falls into despair. It implicitly points to the need for steadiness (dhairya) and reliance on dharma even when external supports vanish.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates an episode in which the speaker (in the story being recounted) is moving through a terrifying, all-encompassing expanse of water like a deluge. Seeing no creatures anywhere, he becomes intensely distressed.