Shloka 21

अध्याय २७०: प्रहस्त-वधः, धूम्राक्ष-हननं, कुम्भकर्ण-प्रबोधनम्

Chapter 270: Slaying of Prahasta; Defeat of Dhūmrākṣa; Awakening of Kumbhakarṇa

Devanagari script

पुरा च सोमो5ध्वरगो5वलिहाते शुना यथा विप्रजने प्रमोहिते । महत्यरण्ये मृगयां चरित्वा पुरा शृुगालो नलिनीं विगाहते

Transliteration

purā ca somo ’dhvarago ’valihāte śunā yathā viprajane pramohite | mahāty araṇye mṛgayāṃ caritvā purā śṛgālo nalinīṃ vigāhate ||

Translation

वैशंपायन म्हणाले— पूर्वी यज्ञकर्मात प्रवृत्त असलेल्या सोमाला कुत्र्याने चाटले—जसे ब्राह्मणांच्या गर्दीत कोणी मोहग्रस्त होतो. तसेच, विशाल अरण्यात शिकार करत फिरून एक कोल्हा पूर्वी कमळतळ्यात घुसला.

Word by Word

पुराformerly, once

चand

सोमःSoma (the Moon / Soma)

अध्वरगःone going to a sacrifice (ritual-goer)

अवलिहातेlicks, laps up

शुनाby a dog

यथाas, just as

विप्रजनेin a crowd/assembly of brahmins (vipras)

प्रमोहितेwhen/where (he is) bewildered

महतिin a great

अरण्येin the forest

मृगयाम्hunting

चरित्वाhaving done/practised, having gone about

पुराformerly, once

शृगालःa jackal

नलिनीम्a lotus-pond (with lotuses)

विगाहतेenters, plunges into

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Soma

dog (śvan)

vipra-jana (brahmin assembly)

forest (araṇya)

jackal (śṛgāla)

lotus-pond (nalinī)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in sacred or respectable contexts, negligence and confusion can invite improper contact and disgrace. The verse uses striking similes to caution against heedlessness and misplaced association, implying the need for vigilance, discernment, and maintaining propriety (śauca and sadācāra).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates two illustrative images: Soma, connected with a sacrifice, is licked by a dog; and a jackal, after wandering in a great forest on the hunt, plunges into a lotus-pond. These function as exempla (illustrative comparisons) within the surrounding Vana Parva discourse.