Mahabharata — Ashramavasika Parva, Shloka 21

अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal

Devanagari script

तदुच्यतां महाप्राज्ञ कं काम॑ प्रददामि ते

Transliteration

tad ucyatāṃ mahāprājña kaṃ kāmaṃ pradadāmi te

Translation

“അപ്പോൾ പറയുക, മഹാപ്രാജ്ഞാ! നിങ്ങളുടെ ഏത് ആഗ്രഹം ഞാൻ നല്കട്ടെ?”

Word by Word

• तत्: that (thing)
• तत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• उच्यताम्: let it be said / please say
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच्
• Form: Imperative, Passive, Third, Singular

• महाप्राज्ञ: O very wise one
• Type: Adjective (vocative epithet)
• Root: महाप्राज्ञ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• कम्: whom?
• कम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun (interrogative)
• Root: किम्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• कामम्: desire / wish
• कामम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रददामि: I give / I grant
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: Present, Parasmaipada, First, Singular

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Dative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वैशम्पायन (Vaiśampāyana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds ethical giving: a boon or gift should be granted with discernment, but only after the recipient clearly articulates a worthy and well-considered request—highlighting responsibility on both giver and seeker.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates a moment of dialogue in which a speaker addresses a ‘greatly wise’ person and invites them to state their wish, indicating an impending grant of a boon or fulfillment of a request within the Ashramavāsika Parva’s reflective, post-war setting.