Shloka 3

दमयन्तीवाक्य-प्रेषणम्

Damayantī’s Message and the Dispatch of Brahmin Envoys

Devanagari script

अर्थकृच्छरेषु चैवाहं प्रष्टव्यो नैपुणेषु च । अन्नसंस्कारमपि च जानाम्यन्यैर्विशेषत:,“मैं इन दिनों अर्थसंकटमें हूँ। आपको किसी भी कलाकी निपुणताके विषयमें सलाह लेनी हो तो मुझसे पूछ सकते हैं। अन्न-संस्कार (भाँतिं-भाँतिकी रसोई बनानेका कार्य) भी मैं दूसरोंकी अपेक्षा विशेष जानता हूँ

Transliteration

bṛhadaśva uvāca | arthakṛcchreṣu caivāhaṃ praṣṭavyo naipuṇeṣu ca | annasaṃskāram api ca jānāmy anyair viśeṣataḥ |

Translation

Bṛhadaśva said: “In times of financial distress, and also in matters requiring skill, I am one to be consulted. I understand, better than others, even the refined preparation and processing of food.”

Word by Word

• {'bṛhadaśva': 'name of the speaker, a sage', 'uvāca': 'said', 'arthakṛcchra': 'financial difficulty, scarcity of means', 'arthakṛcchreṣu': 'in situations of financial distress (locative plural)', 'ca eva': 'and indeed', 'aham': 'I', 'praṣṭavyaḥ': 'to be asked, to be consulted', 'naipuṇa': 'skill, proficiency, expertise', 'naipuṇeṣu': 'in matters of skill (locative plural)', 'anna': 'food, grain', 'saṃskāra': 'preparation, refinement, processing

• also ‘cultivation’ in a broad sense', 'annasaṃskāram': 'the preparation/refinement of food (cooking and culinary processing)', 'api': 'also, even', 'jānāmi': 'I know', 'anyaiḥ': 'by others

• than others (instrumental plural, comparative sense)', 'viśeṣataḥ': 'especially, in particular, distinctly'}

Speaker

ब॒हदश्च उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bṛhadaśva

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Practical competence is a form of dharma: in hardship one should seek and offer useful expertise. The verse values skilled counsel and everyday arts like food preparation as socially sustaining knowledge.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bṛhadaśva introduces his areas of competence, presenting himself as someone to consult in financial difficulty and in skilled matters, explicitly including culinary preparation, thereby positioning his knowledge as serviceable to others in the forest setting.