Shloka 32

पञ्चाप्सरो-सरः कथनम् तथा अगस्त्याश्रममार्गनिर्देशः

Panchapsara Lake Account and Directions to Agastya

Devanagari script

न तु जानामि तं देशं वनस्यास्य महत्तया।।।।कुत्राश्रमपदं रम्यं महर्षेस्तस्य धीमतः।

Transliteration

na tu jānāmi taṃ deśaṃ vanasyāsya mahattayā | kutrāśramapadaṃ ramyaṃ maharṣes tasya dhīmataḥ ||

Translation

എന്നാൽ ഈ വനത്തിന്റെ മഹത്ത്വം അത്യന്തം വലുതായതിനാൽ, ആ ധീമാനായ മഹർഷിയുടെ മനോഹരമായ ആശ്രമസ്ഥലം എവിടെയെന്ന് എനിക്ക് അറിയുന്നില്ല.

Word by Word

नnot

तुbut

जानामिI know

तम्that

देशम्place, region

वनस्यof the forest

अस्यof this

महत्तयाdue to vastness

कुत्रwhere

आश्रमपदम्hermitage-site

रम्यम्pleasant

महर्षेःof the great sage

तस्यof that

धीमतःof the wise

Context

I am unable to locate the sacred hermitage of that sagacious sage due to the vastness of this forest.

Characters & Entities

Rāma

Sutīkṣṇa

Agastya (implied by context as the sought sage)

forest (Araṇya)

FAQs

What is the core ethical principle (Dharma) in this verse?

Dharma here is humility and truthfulness: Rāma openly admits his limitation and seeks proper guidance rather than acting on assumption.

What is the narrative situation?

In the Daṇḍaka forest, Rāma tells Sutīkṣṇa he cannot locate the sage’s hermitage because the forest is immense.

Which character virtue is emphasized?

Rāma’s modesty and sincerity (satya-vacana): he states facts plainly and respectfully asks for direction.