Shloka 1133

Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha

Devanagari script

आशया परया प्राप्तो न चाहं काज्चनीकृतः । इसी उद्देश्यसे मैं बड़े हर्ष और उत्साहके साथ बारंबार अनेकानेक तपोवनों और यज्ञस्थलोंमें जाया-आया करता हूँ। परम बुद्धिमान्‌ कुरुराज युधिष्ठिरके इस यज्ञका बड़ा भारी शोर सुनकर मैं बड़ी आशा लगाये यहाँ आया था; किंतु मेरा शरीर यहाँ सोनेका न हो सका

Transliteration

āśayā parayā prāpto na cāhaṃ kāñcanīkṛtaḥ |

Translation

語り手は言う。「至高の望みを抱いてここへ来たが、私は黄金には変わらなかった。」そのために私は歓喜と熱意をもって、幾度となく多くの苦行林や祭祀の場を巡り歩いてきた。至賢なるクル王ユディシュティラのこの大祭の名声が轟くのを聞き、大いなる期待を抱いてここへ来たのだが、ここでは我が身は黄金となり得なかった。

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'āśayā', 'definition': 'with hope

• by expectation (instrumental of āśā/āśaya)'}, {'term': 'parayā', 'definition': 'supreme, highest, intense (instrumental feminine of para)'}, {'term': 'prāptaḥ', 'definition': 'arrived

• reached (past participle of √āp with pra-)'}, {'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and

• but'}, {'term': 'aham', 'definition': 'I'}, {'term': 'kāñcanīkṛtaḥ', 'definition': 'made into gold

Speaker

श्षशुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kuru king (Kuru-rāja)
• Aśvamedha (horse sacrifice, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Hope for reward—especially miraculous or external reward—does not by itself produce spiritual fruition. The verse underscores that the ethical and inner basis of merit matters more than merely arriving at a famous sacrifice with expectations.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker (identified here as “śvaśuraḥ”) reports that he came to Yudhiṣṭhira’s renowned sacrifice with great expectation, but the anticipated transformation into gold did not occur, prompting reflection on what truly yields the fruit of a rite.