Shloka 8

Tapas-śreṣṭhatā: Anāśana as the Highest Austerity

Bhagīratha–Brahmā Saṃvāda

Devanagari script

भगीरथ उवाच निष्काणां वै हाददं ब्राह्मणे भ्य: शतं सहस््राणि सदैव दानम्‌ । बाह्दां व्रतं नित्यमास्थाय विद्धन्‌ न त्वेवाहं तस्य फलादिहागाम्‌,भगीरथने कहा--िद्वन! मैं ब्रह्मचर्यव्रतका आश्रय लेकर प्रतिदिन एक लाख स्वार्ण- मुद्राओंका ब्राह्मणोंके लिये दान किया करता था; परंतु उस दानके फलसे मैं यहाँ नहीं आया हूँ

Transliteration

Bhagīratha uvāca—niṣkāṇāṃ vai śataṃ sahasrāṇi brāhmaṇebhyaḥ sadaiva dānam | brahmacarya-vrataṃ nityam āsthāya viddhan na tv evāhaṃ tasya phalād iha āgām ||

Translation

ഭഗീരഥൻ പറഞ്ഞു—“വിദ്വാനേ! ഞാൻ ബ്രഹ്മചര്യവ്രതം നിത്യമായി അനുഷ്ഠിച്ച് ബ്രാഹ്മണർക്കു എപ്പോഴും ഒരു ലക്ഷം നിഷ്കങ്ങൾ (സ്വർണമുദ്രകൾ) ദാനമായി നൽകുമായിരുന്നു; എങ്കിലും ആ ദാനഫലത്താൽ ഞാൻ ഇവിടെ എത്തിയതല്ല.”

Word by Word

• {'bhagīratha uvāca': 'Bhagīratha said', 'niṣkāṇām (niṣka)': 'gold coin/ornament used as a unit of wealth', 'śataṃ sahasrāṇi': 'a hundred thousands (100,000)', 'brāhmaṇebhyaḥ': 'to/for the Brahmins', 'sadaiva': 'always, continually', 'dānam': 'gift, charitable giving', 'brahmacarya-vratam': 'the vow of celibate discipline/student-like restraint', 'nityam': 'daily, constantly', 'āsthāya': 'having undertaken, relying upon', 'viddhan (vidvan)': 'O learned one, O wise man', 'na tu eva': 'not indeed, not at all', 'tasya phalāt': 'from the fruit/result of that (act)', 'iha': 'here (in this state/place)', 'āgām (āgataḥ/āgaccham)': 'I came/arrived'}

Speaker

भगीरथ उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhagīratha
• Brāhmaṇas
• niṣka (gold coins)
• brahmacarya-vrata

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even immense charity performed with strict discipline does not automatically explain one’s present spiritual condition; Bhagīratha distinguishes mere accumulation of merit from the specific cause of his current attainment, pointing to the subtlety of karma and the limits of external acts when separated from the deeper determining factors.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhagīratha addresses a learned interlocutor and recounts his former practice: daily giving vast wealth to Brahmins while observing brahmacarya. He then clarifies that his arrival ‘here’ (his present state or realm) is not due to the fruit of that charity, preparing the ground for a discussion of what truly led to his present outcome.