Shloka 1

Adhyāya 57 — Arjuna’s Vow-Anxiety, Kṛṣṇa’s Counsel, and the Pāśupata Authorization

Devanagari script

अर-क्रा् सप्तपजञ्चाशत्तमो< ध्याय: राजा पौरवके अद्भुत दानका वृत्तान्त नारद उवाच राजानं पौरवं वीरं मृतं सृज्जय शुश्रुम । सहस््र॑ यः सहस्राणां श्वेतानश्वानवासृजत्‌,नारदजी कहते हैं--सृंजय! हमने वीर राजा पौरवकी भी मृत्यु हुई सुनी है, जिन्होंने दस लाख श्वेत घोड़ोंका दान किया था

Transliteration

nārada uvāca | rājānaṃ pauravaṃ vīraṃ mṛtaṃ sṛñjaya śuśruma | sahasraṃ yaḥ sahasrāṇāṃ śvetān aśvān avāsṛjat ||

Translation

ನಾರದನು ಹೇಳಿದರು—“ಓ ಸೃಂಜಯ! ಪೌರವ ವಂಶದ ವೀರ ರಾಜನೂ ಮರಣಪಟ್ಟನೆಂದು ನಾವು ಕೇಳಿದ್ದೇವೆ—ಅವನು ಸಾವಿರ ಸಾವಿರ ಬಿಳಿ ಕುದುರೆಗಳನ್ನು ದಾನವಾಗಿ ಬಿಡಿಸಿದವನು.”

Word by Word

• {'nārada uvāca': 'Narada said', 'rājānam': 'the king (accusative singular)', 'pauravam': 'of the Paurava lineage

• descendant of Pūru', 'vīram': 'heroic, valiant', 'mṛtam': 'dead

• having died', 'sṛñjaya': 'O Sṛñjaya (vocative)', 'śuśruma': 'we have heard (perfect of √śru)', 'sahasram': 'a thousand', 'sahasrāṇām': 'of thousands

• in the sense of ‘a thousand (of) thousands’', 'śvetān': 'white (accusative plural)', 'aśvān': 'horses (accusative plural)', 'avāsṛjat': 'he released/let go

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Narada
• Sṛñjaya
• Paurava king (a king of the Paurava lineage)
• white horses

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even extraordinary merit and fame gained through great charity do not exempt one from death; the verse upholds dāna as a royal dharma while underscoring impermanence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Narada addresses Sṛñjaya and reports news he has heard: a heroic Paurava king has died, remembered especially for donating (releasing as gifts) an immense number of white horses.