Shloka 38

Devanagari script

ततः सुप्रीतमनसस्ते नृपा नृपसत्तम । तथेत्येवाब्रुवन्‌ सर्वे प्रतिगृह्मास्य तां गिरम्‌,नृपश्रेष्ठ जनमेजय! तब उन सभी राजाओंने प्रसन्नचित्त हो “तथास्तु' कहकर भगवानकी वह आज्ञा शिरोधार्य कर ली

Transliteration

tataḥ suprītamanasas te nṛpā nṛpasattama | tathetyevābruvan sarve pratigṛhṇāsya tāṃ giram, nṛpaśreṣṭha janamejaya |

Translation

Тогда те цари, исполненные радости, ответили: «Да будет так». Приняв его слово и сохранив его в сердце — о лучший из царей, Джанамеджая, — все они согласились, почитая повеление как то, что носят на голове.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

सुप्रीतमनसःhaving very pleased minds

तेthose

नृपाःkings

नृपसत्तमO best of kings

तथाso, thus

इतिthus (quotative)

एवindeed, just

अब्रुवन्said, spoke

सर्वेall

प्रतिगृह्यhaving accepted, having received

अस्यof him/this

ताम्that

गिरम्speech, command, utterance

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Janamejaya

kings (nṛpāḥ)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

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 royal and ethical decorum: when a legitimate directive is given in an assembly, righteous kings respond with glad assent and accept the instruction with reverence, treating it as binding and honorable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates to King Janamejaya that the assembled kings, pleased in mind, collectively replied “tathāstu” (“so be it”) and accepted the spoken command, indicating unanimous compliance.