Anushasana Parva Adhyaya 79 Shloka 30 - Mahabharata | Malayalam | Vedapath

Vyasa

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Shloka 30

Go-dāna-stuti and Ghṛta-Japa

Praise of cow-gift and ghee-centered recitation

Devanagari script

इति नृप सतत गवां प्रदाने यवशकलान्‌ सह गोमयै: पिबान: । क्षितितलशयन: शिखी यतात्मा वृष इव राजवृषस्तदा बभूव

Transliteration

iti nṛpa satataṃ gavāṃ pradāne yavaśakalān saha gomayaiḥ pibānaḥ | kṣititalaśayanaḥ śikhī yatātmā vṛṣa iva rājavṛṣas tadā babhūva, nareśvara! |

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—നരേശ്വരാ! ഇങ്ങനെ രാജാക്കളിൽ ശ്രേഷ്ഠനായ യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻ സദാ ഗോദാനത്തിൽ തത്പരനായി, ഗോമയത്തോടൊപ്പം യവകണങ്ങൾ അല്പാഹാരമായി സ്വീകരിച്ച്, ഭൂമിയിൽ തന്നെ ശയിച്ച്, മനോഇന്ദ്രിയങ്ങളെ നിയന്ത്രിച്ചു ജീവിച്ചു. അവന്റെ ജടകൾ വളർന്നു; അന്ന് അവൻ ധർമ്മസ്വരൂപനായി, രാജവൃഷഭംപോലെ ദീപ്തിയായി തിളങ്ങി.

Word by Word

इतिthus

नृपO king

सततम्always, continually

गवाम्of cows

प्रदानेin (the act of) giving, in donation

यव-शकलान्barley-grains (lit. barley-pieces)

सहtogether with

गोमयैःwith cow-dung

पिबानःdrinking / consuming

क्षितितल-शयनःone whose bed is the ground (sleeping on the earth)

शिखीwith a topknot/crest; (here) with matted hair

यत-आत्माself-controlled

वृषःa bull

इवlike, as if

राज-वृषःthe bull among kings (best of kings)

तदाthen

बभूवbecame

नर-ईश्वरO lord of men (O king)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira

cows (go)

barley (yava)

cow-dung (gomaya)

earth/ground (kṣiti-tala)

Dharma (implied by vṛṣa imagery)

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?

The verse highlights royal dharma expressed through sustained charity (especially go-dāna) and personal austerity: a ruler’s moral authority is strengthened by self-restraint, simplicity, and commitment to giving rather than indulgence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana describes Yudhiṣṭhira’s disciplined way of life during this period: he is continually engaged in donating cows, eats only scant barley (even with cow-dung, emphasizing extreme simplicity), sleeps on the bare ground, grows matted hair, and is portrayed as shining like Dharma—‘a bull among kings.’