Shloka 24

Adhyaya 60: Self-Assertion, Daiva, and the Rhetoric of Inevitability (उद्योग पर्व)

Devanagari script

न हाहं “लाघनो राजन्‌ भूतपूर्व: कदाचन । असदाचरितं होतद्‌ यदात्मानं प्रशंसति,“महाराज! आजसे पहले मैंने कभी भी आत्मप्रशंसा नहीं की है; क्योंकि मनुष्य जो अपनी प्रशंसा करता है, यह अच्छे पुरुषोंका कार्य नहीं है

Transliteration

na hāhaṁ lāghano rājan bhūtapūrvaḥ kadācana | asadācaritaṁ hy etad yad ātmānaṁ praśaṁsati ||

Translation

महाराज! आजवर मी कधीही आत्मप्रशंसा केलेली नाही; कारण स्वतःची स्तुती करणे हे सज्जनांचे आचरण नाही.

Word by Word

नnot

अहंI

लाघनःone who boasts/self-praises (boaster)

राजन्O king

भूतपूर्वःformerly/ever before (having occurred before)

कदाचनever/at any time

असदाचरितम्not practiced by the good / improper for the virtuous

होतत्is/occurs (intended: भवति/होति)

यत्that which

आत्मानम्oneself

प्रशंसतिpraises

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

rājan (the king, i.e., Janamejaya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Self-praise is presented as unbecoming and contrary to the conduct of good people; ethical speech is marked by humility rather than boasting.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana, addressing the king (Janamejaya), remarks that he has not previously engaged in boasting and frames self-praise as improper, setting an ethical tone for the surrounding discourse.