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

Transliteration

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

Translation

ਮਹਾਰਾਜ! ਮੈਂ ਪਹਿਲਾਂ ਕਦੇ ਵੀ ਆਪਣੀ ਸ਼ਲਾਘਾ ਨਹੀਂ ਕੀਤੀ; ਕਿਉਂਕਿ ਆਪਣੇ ਆਪ ਦੀ ਤਾਰੀਫ਼ ਕਰਨਾ ਭਲੇ ਪੁਰਖਾਂ ਦਾ ਕਰਤੱਬ ਨਹੀਂ।

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अहं: I
• अहं: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: common, nominative, singular

• लाघनः: one who boasts/self-praises (boaster)
• लाघनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लाघन
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• भूतपूर्वः: formerly/ever before (having occurred before)
• भूतपूर्वः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भूतपूर्व
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• कदाचन: ever/at any time
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कदाचन

• असदाचरितम्: not practiced by the good / improper for the virtuous
• असदाचरितम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: असदाचरित
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• होतत्: is/occurs (intended: भवति/होति)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू
• Form: present, indicative, third, singular, parasmaipada

• यत्: that which
• यत्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• आत्मानम्: oneself
• आत्मानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन्
• Form: masculine, accusative, singular

• प्रशंसति: praises
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-शंस्
• Form: present, indicative, third, singular, parasmaipada

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• rājan (the king, i.e., Janamejaya)

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.