Mahabharata 3.299.46 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 299, Shloka 46

Ajñātavāsa-saṅkalpaḥ — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Resolve and Dhaumya’s Exempla on Concealment

Devanagari script

यम उवाच शतं सुतानां बलवीर्यशालिनां भविष्यति प्रीतिकरं तवाबले । परिश्रमस्ते न भवन्नपात्मजे निवर्त दूरं हि पथस्त्वमागता

Transliteration

yama uvāca: śataṁ sutānāṁ balavīryaśālināṁ bhaviṣyati prītikaraṁ tavābale | pariśramas te na bhavann apātmaje nivarta dūraṁ hi pathas tvam āgatā ||

Translation

यमराज म्हणाले—अबले! तुला बल व पराक्रमाने युक्त असे शंभर पुत्र होतील; ते तुझा आनंद वाढवतील. राजकुमारी! आता परत जा, म्हणजे तुला थकवा येणार नाही; तू मार्गापासून फार दूर आली आहेस.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'यम (yama)', 'meaning': 'Yama, lord of death and judge of dharma'}, {'term': 'शतम् (śatam)', 'meaning': 'a hundred'}, {'term': 'सुतानाम् (sutānām)', 'meaning': 'of sons'}, {'term': 'बलवीर्यशालिनाम् (balavīryaśālinām)', 'meaning': 'possessing strength (bala) and valor/potency (vīrya)'}, {'term': 'भविष्यति (bhaviṣyati)', 'meaning': 'will be / will come to pass'}, {'term': 'प्रीतिकरम् (prītikaram)', 'meaning': 'bringing delight, pleasing'}, {'term': 'तव (tava)', 'meaning': 'for you / your'}, {'term': 'अबले (abale)', 'meaning': 'O weak/helpless one

• an address to a woman implying tenderness'}, {'term': 'परिश्रमः (pariśramaḥ)', 'meaning': 'fatigue, exertion'}, {'term': 'निवर्त (nivarta)', 'meaning': 'turn back, return'}, {'term': 'दूरम् (dūram)', 'meaning': 'far'}, {'term': 'पथः (pathaḥ)', 'meaning': 'path, way'}, {'term': 'त्वम् आगता (tvam āgatā)', 'meaning': 'you have come (feminine)'}, {'term': 'अपात्मजे (apātmaje)', 'meaning': 'O princess (lit. ‘not born of a common man’)

Speaker

यम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• यम (Yama)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even when granting a boon, a dharmic authority like Yama emphasizes care and restraint: compassion is shown by preventing needless suffering (fatigue) and by guiding someone back from a perilous or improper course.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yama addresses a noble woman who has strayed far from her way, blesses her with the future birth of a hundred strong and valorous sons, and then instructs her to return so she will not be exhausted.