Shloka 16

Rathaghoṣa–Saṃjñāna: Damayantī’s Inference and the Dispatch of the Envoy (Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 71)

Devanagari script

बाहुक उवाच एको ललाटे द्वौ मूर्थ्नि द्वौ द्वौ पाश्चोपपार्श्चयो: । दौ दौ वक्षसि विज्ञेयौ प्रयाणे चैक एव तु,बाहुकने कहा--राजन्‌! ललाटमें एक, मस्तकमें दो, पार्श्रभागमें दो, उपपार्श्वभागमें भी दो, छातीमें दोनों ओर दो दो और पीठमें एक--इस प्रकार कुल बारह भँवरियोंको पहचानकर घोड़े रथमें जोतने चाहिये

Transliteration

bāhuka uvāca— eko lalāṭe dvau mūrdhni dvau dvau pārśvopapārśvayoḥ | dvau dvau vakṣasi vijñeyau prayāṇe caika eva tu ||

Translation

バーフカは言った。「王よ、額に一つの毛の渦があり、頭に二つ、脇に二つ、脇の傍らにも二つ、胸の左右にそれぞれ二つ、そして背に一つがあると知るべきである。この十二の渦を見分けたなら、そのような馬を戦車に繋ぐがよい。」

Word by Word

बाहुकःBahuka (name)

उवाचsaid

एकःone

ललाटेon the forehead

द्वौtwo

मूर्ध्निon the head/crown

द्वौtwo

पार्श्वयोःon the two sides/flanks

उपपार्श्वयोःon the two subsidiary sides (near the flanks)

द्वौtwo

वक्षसिon the chest

विज्ञेयौto be known/recognized (as)

प्रयाणेat the back/rump (lit. in the going-part)

चand

एकःone

एवindeed/only

तुbut/indeed

Speaker

बाहुक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bāhuka

King (rājan)

Horse

Chariot

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Competent action in a ruler’s life depends on careful discernment: one should recognize reliable physical markers (here, twelve hair-whorls) before selecting and yoking a horse, emphasizing informed choice and practical responsibility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bāhuka addresses the king and lists the locations and count of hair-whorls on a horse’s body, presenting them as identifying marks of a horse fit to be yoked to a chariot.