Shloka 13

Agastya–Lopāmudrā: Marriage, Austerity, and Conditions for Conjugal Union (लोमशकथितम्)

Devanagari script

क्योंकि सनातन धर्मराज वहाँ स्वयं निवास करते हैं। राजन! वहाँ सम्पूर्ण नदियोंका प्राकट्य हुआ है ।। यत्र संनिहितो नित्यं महादेव: पिनाकधृक्‌ । तत्र ते पाण्डवा वीराश्षातुर्मास्यैस्तदेजिरे

Transliteration

yatra saṁnihito nityaṁ mahādevaḥ pinākadhṛk | tatra te pāṇḍavā vīrāś cāturmāsyais tad ejire ||

Translation

Vaiśaṁpāyana said: “In that place Mahādeva, the eternal bearer of the bow Pināka, is ever present. There the heroic Pāṇḍavas performed the prescribed four-month observances, living in disciplined devotion at that sacred site.”

Word by Word

यत्रwhere

संनिहितःpresent, stationed, abiding

नित्यम्always

महादेवःMahādeva (Śiva)

पिनाकधृक्the bearer of the Pināka (bow)

तत्रthere

तेthose, they

पाण्डवाःthe Pāṇḍavas

वीराःheroes

चातुर्मास्यैःby the four-month (vows/observances), with four-month rites

तत्that (place/thing)

एजिरेthey worshipped, they performed sacrifice

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṁpāyana

Mahādeva (Śiva)

Pināka (Śiva’s bow)

Pāṇḍavas

Cāturmāsya (four-month observance)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma expressed through disciplined religious observance: even in hardship and exile, the Pāṇḍavas uphold sacred vows and worship, emphasizing that proximity to the divine (Mahādeva) calls for restraint, ritual duty, and reverence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṁpāyana describes a holy location where Śiva is said to be perpetually present. The Pāṇḍavas stay there and undertake Cāturmāsya observances—four-month vows/rites—indicating a period of settled worship and austerity during their forest life.