Shloka 4

Adhyāya 39 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s inquiry on attachment (saṅga) and relational restraint

Devanagari script

शम्बर उवाच नासूयामि यदा वित्रान्‌ ब्राह्ममेव च मे मतम्‌ । शास्त्राणि वदतो विप्रान्‌ सम्मन्यामि यथासुखम्‌

Transliteration

śambara uvāca | nāsūyāmi yadā viprān brāhmam eva ca me matam | śāstrāṇi vadato viprān samman yāmi yathāsukham |

Translation

ಶಂಬರನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ನಾನು ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣರಲ್ಲಿ ಎಂದಿಗೂ ದೋಷವನ್ನು ಕಾಣುವುದಿಲ್ಲ; ಅವರ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಅಸೂಯೆ ಮಾಡುವುದೂ ಇಲ್ಲ. ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮವಾದದ್ದೇ ನನ್ನ ಮತ. ಶಾಸ್ತ್ರಗಳನ್ನು ಉಪದೇಶಿಸುವ ವಿಪ್ರರನ್ನು ನಾನು ಗೌರವಿಸುತ್ತೇನೆ ಮತ್ತು ಯಥಾಶಕ್ತಿ ಅವರಿಗೆ ಸುಖ-ಸಹಾಯವನ್ನು ಮಾಡುತ್ತೇನೆ.

Word by Word

• {'śambara': 'Śambara (name of an asura/demon figure)', 'uvāca': 'said', 'na': 'not', 'asūyāmi (asūyā)': 'I envy

• I find fault (maliciously)', 'yadā': 'ever/when', 'viprān': 'brāhmaṇas

• learned priests/sages', 'brāhmam': 'that which is brāhmaṇa

• pertaining to Brahmanical dharma', 'eva': 'indeed

• alone', 'ca': 'and', 'me': 'my', 'matam': 'view

• conviction', 'śāstrāṇi': 'scriptures

• authoritative treatises', 'vadato': 'of those who speak/teach (genitive plural participle)', 'samman yāmi (sammanyāmi)': 'I honor

• I hold in high esteem', 'yathā-sukham': 'according to ability/means

Speaker

शम्बर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śambara
• vipra (brāhmaṇas)
• śāstra (scriptural teachings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches reverence toward learned brāhmaṇas and the authority of śāstra: one should avoid fault-finding and instead honor those who teach sacred knowledge, supporting them according to one’s capacity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śambara speaks in self-description, declaring his attitude and conduct: he does not disparage brāhmaṇas, aligns his own view with Brahmanical/śāstric principles, and shows practical respect by honoring and assisting scriptural teachers.