Shloka 42

Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ

King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt

Devanagari script

चकार मृगयां कामी गिरिकामेव संस्मरन्‌ | अतीवरूपसम्पन्नां साक्षाच्छियमिवापराम्‌

Transliteration

vaishampāyana uvāca | cakāra mṛgayāṃ kāmī girikām eva saṃsmaran | atīvarūpasampannāṃ sākṣāc chriyam ivāparām |

Translation

കാമവശനായി രാജാവ് വേട്ടയാടാൻ പുറപ്പെട്ടു; ഗിരികയെ മാത്രമേ നിരന്തരം സ്മരിച്ചിരുന്നുള്ളൂ—അത്യന്തം രൂപസമ്പന്നയായ അവൾ, പ്രത്യക്ഷമായ മറ്റൊരു ലക്ഷ്മിയെപ്പോലെ.

Word by Word

• चकार: did, performed
• चकार: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद, परोक्षभूत/परफेक्ट), प्रथम, एकवचन

• मृगयाम्: hunt, hunting
• मृगयाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृगया (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• कामी: desirous, lustful
• कामी: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कामिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• गिरिकाम्: Girīkā (the queen)
• गिरिकाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• संस्मरन्: remembering, thinking of
• संस्मरन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + स्मृ (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अतीवरूपसम्पन्नाम्: endowed with exceedingly great beauty
• अतीवरूपसम्पन्नाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतीव-रूप-सम्पन्ना (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• साक्षात्: directly, in person, as if present
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: साक्षात्

• श्रियम्: Lakṣmī, fortune/beauty
• श्रियम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अपराम्: another, second
• अपराम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अपर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Girikā
• Śrī (Lakṣmī)
• Pitṛs (ancestors)
• the king (Vasu)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic tension: a ruler must not disregard ancestral injunctions (pitṛ-ājñā), even when personal desire (kāma) strongly pulls the mind elsewhere. Ethical action is shown as duty-bound conduct amid inner distraction, not the absence of temptation.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes the king going to the forest for a hunt to kill dangerous animals as commanded by the Pitṛs, while his mind remains absorbed in thoughts of his beautiful wife Girikā, likened to a second Lakṣmī.