Shloka 23

Śaṅkha–Likhita Upākhyāna: Daṇḍa, Confession, and the Purification of Kingship (शङ्ख-लिखितोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

अत्र ते राजशार्दूल वर्तयिष्ये कथामिमाम्‌ | यद्‌ वृत्तं पूर्वराजर्षे्हयग्रीवस्य पाण्डव

Transliteration

atra te rājaśārdūla vartayiṣye kathām imām | yad vṛttaṃ pūrvarājarṣer hayagrīvasya pāṇḍava ||

Translation

ਹੇ ਰਾਜਸ਼ਾਰਦੂਲ ਪਾਂਡਵ! ਇੱਥੇ ਮੈਂ ਤੈਨੂੰ ਇਹ ਕਥਾ ਸੁਣਾਂਦਾ ਹਾਂ—ਪੁਰਾਤਨ ਸਮੇਂ ਦੇ ਰਾਜਰਿਸ਼ੀ ਹਯਗ੍ਰੀਵ ਦੇ ਜੀਵਨ ਵਿੱਚ ਜੋ ਕੁਝ ਵਾਪਰਿਆ, ਉਸ ਦਾ ਵਰਤਾਂਤ।

Word by Word

• अत्र: here; in this matter
• अत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अत्र

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Dative, Singular

• राजशार्दूल: O tiger among kings
• Type: Noun (vocative epithet)
• Root: राजशार्दूल
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• वर्तयिष्ये: I shall relate / narrate
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत् (वर्तयति caus.)
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), First, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कथाम्: a story
• कथाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: कथा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• इमाम्: this
• Type: Pronoun (demonstrative)
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• यत्: which; that which
• Type: Pronoun (relative)
• Root: यद्
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• वृत्तम्: the account; what happened
• वृत्तम्: Karma
• Type: Noun/Adjective (used substantively)
• Root: वृत्त (ppp of वृत्)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• पूर्व: former; earlier
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पूर्व

• राजर्षेः: of the royal sage
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजर्षि
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• हयग्रीवस्य: of Hayagrīva
• Type: Proper Noun
• Root: हयग्रीव
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• पाण्डव: O Pāṇḍava
• Type: Proper Noun (vocative epithet)
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pāṇḍava (addressee)
• Hayagrīva (rājarṣi)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical instruction through itihāsa-style narration: a past royal sage’s life is presented as a model so that a ruler may grasp dharma not merely as theory but as lived conduct and consequence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana announces that he will now tell the Pāṇḍava a specific story—an earlier account concerning the royal sage Hayagrīva—signaling a transition into an illustrative episode within the Śānti Parva’s teachings on right conduct and kingship.