Shloka 18

Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)

Devanagari script

इत्युक्त्वा पन्नगसुतां सपत्नी चैत्रवाहनी । ततः प्रायमुपासीना तूष्णीमासीज्जनाधिप,नरेश्वर! नागकन्यासे ऐसा कहकर उसकी सौत चित्रवाहनकुमारी चित्रांगा आमरण उपवासका संकल्प लेकर चुपचाप बैठ गयी

Transliteration

ity uktvā pannagasutāṃ sapatnī caitravāhanī | tataḥ prāyam upāsīnā tūṣṇīm āsīj janādhipa naraśvara ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: Сказав так деве-змее, её соперница-жена — царевна из рода Читраваһаны, Читранга — затем приняла обет прайи (поста до смерти). И, сидя в торжественном молчании, она оставалась непреклонной, о царь, владыка людей.

Word by Word

इतिthus

उक्त्वाhaving said

पन्नगसुताम्the serpent-daughter (Nāga maiden)

सपत्नीthe co-wife

चैत्रवाहनीChaitravāhanī (proper name)

ततःthen/thereupon

प्रायम्fast unto death (prāya, vow of dying by fasting)

उपासीनाhaving sat down / seated (undertaking)

तूष्णीम्silently

आसीत्was / remained

जनाधिपO lord of people

नरेश्वरO king / O lord of men

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

pannagasutā (Nāga-kanyā)

sapatnī (co-wife)

Caitravāhanī (princess of Citravāhana)

janādhipa/naraśvara (the king addressed)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical seriousness of speech and honor within family life: instead of escalating rivalry, the co-wife adopts an extreme vow (prāya) and silence, presenting self-denial as a final moral stance and a form of expiation or protest.

What is happening in the narrative?

After addressing the Nāga-maiden, the princess described as the co-wife (Caitravāhanī) sits down and undertakes prāya—fasting unto death—remaining silent, while the narrator (Vaiśaṃpāyana) reports this to the king.