Shloka 24

Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

दशवर्षसहस्राणि दशाष्टी च शतानि च । नष्टपानीयपवने मृगैरन्यैश्न वर्जिते

Transliteration

daśavarṣasahasrāṇi daśāṣṭī ca śatāni ca | naṣṭapānīyapavane mṛgair anyaiś na varjite ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「一万年、さらに十年と八百年（すなわち一万八百年）のあいだ、飲み水も健やかな息（風）も失われた大いなる森にて――（そこに住むであろう）。」 文脈においてこの言葉は苛烈な呪詛として働く。すなわち、荒涼たる不毛の地で恐怖に満ちた長き生を強いられることにより、怒りと非道の倫理的帰結を、欠乏（水・息・安寧）と孤絶の象徴によって示すのである。

Word by Word

• दश: ten
• दश: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• वर्ष: years
• वर्ष: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• सहस्राणि: thousands
• सहस्राणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सहस्र
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• दश: ten
• दश: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• अष्टि: eighties (80s)
• अष्टि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अष्टि
• Form: feminine, nominative/accusative, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• शतानि: hundreds
• शतानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• नष्ट: lost, absent
• नष्ट: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नष्ट
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• पानीय: drinking-water
• पानीय: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पानीय
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• पवने: wind, air
• पवने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पवन
• Form: masculine, locative, singular

• मृगैः: by animals (deer/beasts)
• मृगैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग
• Form: masculine, instrumental, plural

• अन्यैः: by other
• अन्यैः: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य
• Form: masculine, instrumental, plural

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• वर्जिते: abandoned, devoid (of)
• वर्जिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर्जित
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• mṛgāḥ (wild animals)
• forest (vana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores karmic and ethical consequence: intense anger and harmful intent culminate in prolonged suffering—symbolized by deprivation of water and air and life among fearful wild conditions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Within Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration, a curse-like pronouncement is being reported: the target is condemned to dwell for 10,800 years in a harsh forest lacking drinkable water and healthy air, amid wild beasts.