Shloka 23
Kuru's Consecration — Kuru’s Consecration and the Sanctification of Samantapañcaka (Kurukshetra)
तं कर्षन्तं नरवरं समभ्येत्य तक्रतुः प्रोवाच राजन् किमिदं भवान् कर्तुमिहोद्यतः
taṃ karṣantaṃ naravaraṃ samabhyetya takratuḥ provāca rājan kimidaṃ bhavān kartumihodyataḥ
耕している最上の人に近づき、タクラトゥは言った。「王よ、ここで何をなさろうとしておられるのか。」
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FAQs
Purāṇic ethics often turn on intention (saṅkalpa). The sage’s question forces articulation of motive—whether the act is dhārmic (for loka-saṅgraha, consecration, charity) or merely self-serving.
Vaṃśānucarita/Carita: an episode in which a sage catalyzes a king’s disclosure of purpose, typically leading into an origin-story of a tīrtha or a prescribed rite.
The sage represents śāstra-guided scrutiny over royal power. Ploughing (karṣaṇa) is not only agricultural but also a metaphor for ‘drawing furrows’ of order in society and sacred space; the question initiates the interpretive layer that makes the act religiously meaningful.