Shloka 14

Amba approaches the Paraśurāma context; Hotravāhana’s counsel and Akṛtavraṇa’s report (अम्बोपाख्यानम्—रामदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

यथा परे5पि मे लोके न स्यादेव॑ महात्यय: । दौर्भाग्यं तापसश्रेष्ठास्तस्मात्‌ तप्स्याम्यहं तप:,तापसश्रेष्ठ महर्षियो! मैं तपस्या इसलिये करना चाहती हूँ, जिससे परलोकमें भी मुझे इस प्रकार महान्‌ संकट एवं दुर्भाग्यका सामना न करना पड़े। अतः मैं तपस्या ही करूँगी

Transliteration

yathā pare ’pi me loke na syād eva mahātyayaḥ | daurbhāgyaṃ tāpasāśreṣṭhās tasmāt tapsyāmy ahaṃ tapaḥ ||

Translation

ഹേ തപശ്ശ്രേഷ്ഠരേ! പരലോകത്തിലും എനിക്ക് വീണ്ടും ഇത്തരമൊരു മഹാവിപത്തും ദൗർഭാഗ്യവും സംഭവിക്കാതിരിക്കാനാണ്; അതിനാൽ ഞാൻ തപസ്സു അനുഷ്ഠിക്കും.

Word by Word

यथाso that / in such a way that

परेin the other (world)

अपिalso / even

मेof me / my

लोकेin the world

नnot

स्यात्may be / should occur

एवindeed / just

महात्ययःa great calamity

दौर्भाग्यम्misfortune

तापसश्रेष्ठाःO best of ascetics

तस्मात्therefore / from that reason

तप्स्यामिI shall practice austerity

अहम्I

तपःausterity / penance

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

tāpasāḥ (ascetics/sages)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames austerity (tapas) as a deliberate ethical-spiritual response to suffering: one seeks inner discipline and purification so that grave calamity and misfortune are not repeated, even beyond this life—linking present effort with future consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker addresses revered ascetics/sages and declares a resolve to undertake tapas, motivated by the fear that the same kind of great संकट (mahātyaya) and ill-fortune (daurbhāgya) might recur in the afterlife as well.