Shloka 4

आपद्-राजनीतिः (Āpad-rājanīti) — Policy Options in Multi-Front Crisis

Devanagari script

स हि तेन पुरा विप्रो राज्ञा नात्यर्थमानितः । आशाकृतनश्च राजेन्द्र तपो दीर्घ समाश्रित:

Transliteration

sa hi tena purā vipro rājñā nātyarthamānitaḥ | āśākṛtanaś ca rājendra tapo dīrghaṃ samāśritaḥ ||

Translation

ಏಕೆಂದರೆ ಪೂರ್ವಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಆ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನಿಗೆ ರಾಜನಿಂದ ಹೆಚ್ಚಿನ ಗೌರವ ದೊರಕಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಆದರೂ, ಓ ರಾಜೇಂದ್ರನೇ! ಆಶೆಯನ್ನು ಆಧಾರಮಾಡಿಕೊಂಡು ಅವನು ದೀರ್ಘಕಾಲ ಕಠೋರ ತಪಸ್ಸನ್ನು ಆಶ್ರಯಿಸಿದನು.

Word by Word

सःhe

हिindeed/for

तेनby him/with him

पुराformerly/once

विप्रःa brahmin

राज्ञाby the king

नnot

अत्यर्थम्excessively/very much

मानितःhonored/respected

आशा-कृतनःone whose hope was made (i.e., whose expectation was raised)

चand

राजेन्द्रO king of kings

तपःausterity/penance

दीर्घम्long/prolonged

समाश्रितःhaving resorted to/undertaken

Speaker

ऋषभ उवाच

Characters & Entities

vipra (a brahmin)

rājā (a king)

rājendra (addressed king)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External recognition from rulers is unstable; a person committed to dharma may still persevere in tapas, sustained by inner resolve and hope, rather than by public honour.

What is happening in the narrative?

Ṛṣabha recalls an earlier episode: a brahmin received little honour from a king, yet—motivated by hope—he undertook prolonged austerities, setting up a moral reflection on how kings treat the virtuous and how the virtuous respond.