Shloka 48

Adhyāya 31: Rājasūya-samāgama — The Gathering of Kings and the Ordering of Hospitality

Devanagari script

धूमकेतु: शिखी च त्वं पापहानिलसम्भव: । सर्वप्राणिषु नित्यस्थ: सत्येन विपुनीहि माम्‌,देव! धूम आपका ध्वज है, आप शिखा धारण करनेवाले हैं, वायुसे आपका प्राकट्य हुआ है। आप समस्त पापोंके नाशक हैं। सम्पूर्ण प्राणियोंक भीतर आप सदा विराजमान होते हैं। अपने सत्यके प्रभावसे आप मुझे पवित्र कीजिये

Transliteration

dhūmaketuḥ śikhī ca tvaṁ pāpahānila-sambhavaḥ | sarva-prāṇiṣu nitya-sthaḥ satyena vipunīhi mām, deva ||

Translation

Sahadeva suplicou: “Ó divino, cujo estandarte é o fumo e que és coroado por uma crista de chama—manifesto pelo vento e destruidor do pecado—tu habitas eternamente em todos os seres. Pelo poder da tua verdade, purifica-me.”

Word by Word

• {'dhūmaketuḥ': '‘smoke-bannered’

• also an epithet indicating a portent-like emblem', 'śikhī': 'crested

• one who bears a śikhā/crest', 'tvaṁ': 'you', 'pāpa-hā': 'destroyer/remover of sin', 'anila-sambhavaḥ': 'born of/manifested from wind (anila)', 'sarva-prāṇiṣu': 'in all living beings', 'nitya-sthaḥ': 'ever-abiding, permanently present', 'satyena': 'by truth

• by the power/force of truthfulness', 'vipunīhi': 'purify, cleanse thoroughly (imperative)', 'mām': 'me', 'deva': 'O god

Speaker

सहदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sahadeva
• Deva (invoked deity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents truth (satya) as a purifying spiritual force and affirms an indwelling divine presence within all beings; ethical self-cleansing is sought through devotion grounded in truth.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sahadeva addresses a deity with reverential epithets and asks to be purified, invoking the deity’s sin-destroying nature and omnipresence within all creatures.