Shloka 27

Keśinī’s Inquiry to Bāhuka and the Emotional Signs of Concealed Identity (केशिन्याः बाहुकपरीक्षा)

Devanagari script

बाहुकस्तमुवाचाथ देहि विद्यामिमां मम । मत्तोडपि चाश्वह्नदयं गृहाण पुरुषर्षभ,बाहुकने कहा--'पुरुषश्रेष्ठ) तुम यह विद्या मुझे बतला दो और बदलेमें मुझसे भी अश्व-विद्याका रहस्य ग्रहण कर लो”

Transliteration

bāhukastam uvācātha dehi vidyām imāṁ mama | matto 'pi cāśvahṛdayaṁ gṛhāṇa puruṣarṣabha ||

Translation

ಆಗ ಬಾಹುಕನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—“ಪುರುಷರ್ಷಭನೇ! ಈ ವಿದ್ಯೆಯನ್ನು ನನಗೆ ನೀಡು; ಮತ್ತು ಪ್ರತಿಯಾಗಿ ನನ್ನಿಂದಲೂ ಅಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯೆಯ ರಹಸ್ಯವನ್ನು ಸ್ವೀಕರಿಸು.”

Word by Word

बाहुकःBāhuka (proper name)

तम्him

उवाचsaid/spoke

अथthen/thereupon

देहिgive (tell/grant)

विद्याम्knowledge/skill

इमाम्this

ममto me / of me

मतःfrom me

अपिalso/even

चand

अश्वह्नदयम्the secret/essence of horse(-science) (reading uncertain)

गृहाणtake/accept

पुरुषर्षभO bull among men (best of men)

Speaker

बृहदश्च उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bāhuka

puruṣarṣabha (honorific addressee)

vidyā (knowledge)

aśvahṛdaya (horsemanship/horse-lore)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Knowledge should be pursued and shared through respectful reciprocity: one requests instruction humbly and offers one’s own expertise in return, treating learning as an ethical exchange rather than a transaction of power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bāhuka asks another person to teach him a particular vidyā and proposes an exchange—he will give in return the ‘aśvahṛdaya’, the specialized secret knowledge of horses/horsemanship.