Shloka 51
राजोवाच चत्वारस्त्वां वा गर्दभा: संवहन्तु श्रेष्ठाश्न॒तर्यो हरयो वातरंहा: । तैस्त्वं याहि क्षत्रियस्यैष वाहो ममैव वाम्यौ न तवैतौ हि विद्धि,राजाने कहा--ब्रह्मन! तब चार गधे, अच्छी जातिकी खच्चरियाँ या वायुके समान वेगशाली दूसरे घोड़े आपकी सवारीके लिये प्रस्तुत हो सकते हैं। इन्हीं वाहनोंद्वारा आप यात्रा करें। यह वाहन, जिसे आप माँगने आये हैं, क्षत्रिय नरेशके ही योग्य हैं। इसलिये आप यह समझ लें कि ये वाम्य अश्व मेरे ही हैं, आपके नहीं
rājovāca—catvāras tvāṃ vā gardabhāḥ saṃvahantu śreṣṭhāśnatarayo harayo vātarāṃhāḥ | tais tvaṃ yāhi kṣatriyasya eṣa vāho mamaiva vāmyau na tava etau hi viddhi ||
The king said: “Let four donkeys carry you, or excellent mules, or horses swift as the wind. Travel by those. This mount you have come to ask for is fit only for a kṣatriya ruler. Therefore understand clearly: these auspicious horses are mine, not yours.”
वामदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a norm of propriety (aucitya) tied to varṇa-duty: certain royal resources—here, prized steeds—are claimed as appropriate to a kṣatriya ruler, and the king asserts ownership and status-bound entitlement while offering alternative, lesser conveyances.
A king responds to a request for his horses by refusing to give them, proposing other animals (donkeys, mules, or other fast horses) for travel instead, and insisting that the specific pair of auspicious steeds belongs to him and is suited to a kṣatriya.