Shloka 23

Mātali’s Proposal for Guṇakeśī and Sumukha’s Audience with Indra

Devanagari script

नारद उवाच ऐरावतकुले जात: सुमुखो नाम नागराटू | आर्यकस्य मत: पौत्रो दौहित्रो वामनस्य च,नारदजी बोले--मातले! यह नागराज सुमुख है, जो ऐरावतके कुलमें उत्पन्न हुआ है। यह आर्यकका पौत्र और वामनका दौहित्र है

Transliteration

nārada uvāca | airāvatakule jātaḥ sumukho nāma nāgarāṭ | āryakasya mataḥ pautro dauhitro vāmanasya ca |

Translation

ナーラダは言った。「おお、マータリよ。このスムカという名のナーガ王は、アイラーヴァタの系譜に生まれた者である。彼はアーリヤカの孫であり、またヴァーマナの娘の子、すなわち外孫でもある。」

Word by Word

नारदःNarada

उवाचsaid/spoke

ऐरावतकुलेin the lineage/family of Airavata

जातःborn

सुमुखःSumukha (proper name)

नामby name

नागराट्king of serpents (naga-king)

आर्यकस्यof Aryaka

मतःconsidered/known (as)

पौत्रःgrandson

दौहित्रःdaughter's son (maternal grandson)

वामनस्यof Vamana

चand

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Narada

Mātali

Sumukha

Airāvata

Āryaka

Vāmana

Nāgas (serpents)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the importance of lineage and rightful identity in epic ethics: a being’s standing and credibility are often established through ancestry, linking personal worth and social recognition to inherited dharma and noble connections.

What is happening in the narrative?

Narada introduces and identifies the serpent-king Sumukha to Mātali by giving his genealogy—born in Airāvata’s clan, grandson of Āryaka, and daughter’s son of Vāmana—thereby establishing who he is and why he matters in the ongoing account.