Shloka 91

Dharma-vyādha’s Analysis of Moral Decline and the Mahābhūta–Guṇa Schema (धर्मव्याधोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

वेदाढ्या वृत्तसम्पन्ना ज्ञानवन्तस्तपस्विन: । यत्र तिष्ठन्ति वै विप्रास्तन्नाम नगरं नूप,राजन! वेदज्ञ, सदाचारी, ज्ञानी और तपस्वी ब्राह्मण जहाँ निवास करते हों, उसीका नाम नगर है

Transliteration

vedāḍhyā vṛttasampannā jñānavantas tapasvinaḥ | yatra tiṣṭhanti vai viprās tan nāma nagaraṃ nūpa-rājan ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O king of the Nūpas, a place truly deserves the name ‘city’ only where Brahmin sages—rich in Vedic learning, endowed with upright conduct, possessed of wisdom, and devoted to austerity—actually reside.”

Word by Word

वेदाढ्याःrich in the Vedas / well-versed in the Vedas

वृत्तसम्पन्नाःendowed with good conduct

ज्ञानवन्तःpossessing knowledge

तपस्विनःascetic, practicing austerities

यत्रwhere

तिष्ठन्तिthey stay / stand / reside

वैindeed

विप्राःbrahmins

तत्that

नामby name / is called

नगरम्a city

नृपO king

राजन्O king

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

viprāḥ (Brahmins)

nūpa-rājan (King of the Nūpas)

Veda

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A community’s true status is measured not by buildings or wealth but by the presence of learned, ethical, and disciplined people—especially Brahmin sages who preserve Vedic knowledge and exemplify right conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king (called ‘nūpa-rājan’) and offers a normative definition of a ‘city’: it is genuinely a nagara only where Veda-knowing, virtuous, wise, and ascetic Brahmins live.