Shloka 30
उत्तङ्कोपाख्यानप्रारम्भः — Uttanka’s Tapas, Viṣṇu-stuti, and the Dhundhumāra Prophecy
Opening
आशड्कय मद्वचो होतद् धर्मलोपो भवेत् तव | जातोऊसि प्रथिते वंशे कुरूणां भरतर्षभ
āśaṅkya mad-vaco hotad dharma-lopo bhavet tava | jāto ’si prathite vaṃśe kurūṇāṃ bharatarṣabha ||
എന്റെ വാക്കുകളിൽ സംശയം കൊണ്ടാൽ നിന്റെ ധർമ്മം ക്ഷയിക്കുമോ എന്ന ആശങ്കകൊണ്ടാണ് ഞാൻ ഇങ്ങനെ പറയുന്നത്. ഭരതശ്രേഷ്ഠാ, നീ പ്രസിദ്ധമായ കുരുവംശത്തിൽ ജനിച്ചവനാണ്.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Speech and counsel must be given with care so that it does not cause a ‘dharma-lopa’ (a lapse from righteousness). One’s conduct should align with the standards of one’s noble lineage—here, the famed Kuru-Bharata tradition—so that dharma is preserved rather than diminished.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, frames his statement as a corrective or clarifying counsel: he fears that his earlier words might be misconstrued and lead the listener into unrighteousness. He therefore reminds the addressee that, being born in the celebrated Kuru line, he must uphold dharma befitting that heritage.