Shloka 43

Devanagari script

लिखित उवाच किं तु नाहं त्वया पूतः पूर्वमेव महाद्युते । यस्य ते तपसो वीर्यमीदृशं द्विजसत्तम,तब लिखितने पूछा--महातेजस्वी द्विजश्रेष्ठी] जब आपकी तपस्याका ऐसा बल है तो आपने पहले ही मुझे पवित्र क्यों नहीं कर दिया?

Transliteration

Likhita uvāca: kiṁ tu nāhaṁ tvayā pūtaḥ pūrvam eva mahādyute | yasya te tapaso vīryam īdṛśaṁ dvijasattama ||

Translation

リキタは言った。「しかし、なぜあなたは以前に私を清めてくださらなかったのですか、偉大なる光輝の方よ。もしあなたの苦行の力がまことにそれほどであるなら、婆羅門の最勝者よ、なぜただちに私を浄めなかったのですか。」

Word by Word

लिखितःLikhita (name)

उवाचsaid

किम्why?/what then?

तुbut

नnot

अहम्I

त्वयाby you

पूतःpurified

पूर्वम्earlier/before

एवindeed/just

महाद्युतेO great-splendored one

यस्यwhose/of which

तेyour

तपसःof austerity/penance

वीर्यम्power/strength

ईदृशम्such (of this kind)

द्विजसत्तमO best of the twice-born

Speaker

लिखित उवाच

Characters & Entities

Likhita

dvijasattama (a Brahmin addressed)

tapas (austerity)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse probes the ethical expectation that spiritual power (tapas) should be used responsibly and promptly for purification and restoration of dharma, raising the question of why corrective grace or expiation was not applied earlier when it was evidently possible.

What is happening in the narrative?

Likhita addresses a highly radiant Brahmin-ascetic, acknowledging the extraordinary potency of his austerities and questioning why, if such power exists, Likhita was not purified beforehand—implying a situation involving impurity, fault, or the need for expiation.