Mahabharata — Shanti Parva, Shloka 15

प्रलय-प्रक्रिया (Pralaya Process) — Guṇa-Withdrawal and Pratisaṃcara

Devanagari script

अपाकृता तत: शक्र त्वयि वत्स्यामि वासव | अप्रमत्तेन धार्यास्मि तपसा विक्रमेण च

Transliteration

apākṛtā tataḥ śakra tvayi vatsyāmi vāsava | apramattena dhāryāsmi tapasā vikrameṇa ca

Translation

シャクラは言った。「我は退けられ（旧き位も奪われ）たゆえ、ヴァーサヴァよ、今より汝のうちに住まう。汝は怠りなき警覚をもって、苦行の力と、また勇猛なる努力とによって、我を支えよ。」

Word by Word

• अपाकृता: removed, cast off
• अपाकृता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपाकृत (कृ धातु; उपसर्ग: अपा)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• ततः: thereafter, then
• ततः: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (तद्)

• शक्र: O Śakra (Indra)
• शक्र: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शक्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• त्वयि: in/with regard to you
• त्वयि: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद्
• Form: —, Locative, Singular

• वत्स्यामि: I shall dwell/live
• वत्स्यामि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: वस् (धातु)
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), 1st, Singular

• वासव: O Vāsava (Indra)
• वासव: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• अप्रमत्तेन: by (being) vigilant, unheedless of negligence
• अप्रमत्तेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अप्रमत्त
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• धार्या: to be sustained/maintained
• धार्या: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: धार्य (धृ धातु)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अस्मि: I am
• अस्मि: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: Present (Laṭ), 1st, Singular

• तपसा: by austerity
• तपसा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• विक्रमेण: by valor/stride, prowess
• विक्रमेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: विक्रम
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

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

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śakra (Indra)
• Vāsava (Indra, addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Authority and success are sustained not by complacency but by constant vigilance (apramāda), disciplined austerity (tapas), and courageous exertion (vikrama). The verse frames power as something that must be actively upheld through ethical self-control and effort.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śakra (Indra) speaks of having been displaced or set aside and declares that he will now ‘dwell’ in the one he addresses as Vāsava, asking to be supported through vigilant discipline, austerity, and valor—linking divine standing to the recipient’s sustained conduct and effort.