Shloka 17

तीर्थयात्रा: सागरतीर्थ-शूर्पारक-प्रभासगमनम्

Pilgrimage to Sea Tīrthas, Śūrpāraka, and Prabhāsa

Devanagari script

स द्वादशाहं जलवायुभक्ष: कुर्वन्‌ क्षपाह:सु तदाभिषेकम्‌ । समन्ततोःग्नीनुपदीपयित्वा तेपे तपो धर्मभूतां वरिष्ठ:,धर्मात्माओंमें श्रेष्ठ युधिष्ठिर वहाँ बारह दिनोंतक केवल जल और वायु पीकर रहते हुए दिनमें और रातमें भी स्नान करते तथा अपने चारों ओर आग जलाकर तपस्यामें लगे रहते थे

Transliteration

sa dvādaśāhaṁ jalavāyubhakṣaḥ kurvan kṣapāhaḥsu tadābhiṣekam | samantato 'gnīn upadīpayitvā tepe tapo dharmabhūtāṁ variṣṭhaḥ ||

Translation

十二日のあいだ、義において最も勝れたユディシュティラは、水と風のみを糧として生きた。昼夜を問わず幾度も浄浴の儀を行い、さらに身の周りに火を焚きめぐらせて、ダルマに根ざす厳しい苦行に入った――それは志を清め、艱難の中にあっても倫理の秩序を守り立てるための自己鍛錬であった。

Word by Word

सःhe (that one)

द्वादशtwelve

अहंdays (for a period)

जलवायुभक्षःone whose food is water and air

कुर्वन्doing, performing

क्षपाःसुin the nights

तदाthen

अभिषेकम्bathing, ablution

समन्ततःon all sides, all around

अग्नीन्fires

उपदीपयित्वाhaving kindled (lit up)

तेपेhe performed austerity / he did penance

तपःausterity, penance

धर्मभूताम्which had become (i.e., was) righteous / in accordance with dharma

वरिष्ठःthe best, most excellent

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira

agni (sacred fires)

abhiṣeka (ritual bath)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights tapas as an ethical discipline: restraint of the body and purification through ritual are portrayed as supports for dharma. Yudhiṣṭhira’s austerity models inner governance—self-control and steadfastness—as prerequisites for righteous action, especially in adversity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira undertaking a twelve-day ascetic observance: subsisting only on water and air, bathing day and night, and lighting fires around himself while performing dharma-centered penance.