Shloka 55

Kapālamocana-tīrtha (Auśanasa) and Balarāma’s Sarasvatī Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

यदिदं चापलं देव कृतमेतत्‌ स्मयादिकम्‌ | ततः प्रसादयामि त्वां तपो मे न क्षरेदिति

Transliteration

yad idaṁ cāpalaṁ deva kṛtam etat smayādikam | tataḥ prasādayāmi tvāṁ tapo me na kṣared iti ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: «О Владыка, всякая моя опрометчивость — это проявление гордыни и тому подобного — была совершена по небрежению. Потому я стремлюсь умилостивить тебя и молю о милости, дабы моя аскеза (тапас) не была умалена».

Word by Word

• {'yad idam': 'whatever this (act) is', 'cāpalam': 'rashness, fickle impulsiveness', 'deva': 'O god

• O Lord', 'kṛtam': 'done, committed', 'etat': 'this', 'smaya-ādikam': 'pride and similar faults (arrogance, self-display, etc.)', 'tataḥ': 'therefore, for that reason', 'prasādayāmi': 'I propitiate

• I seek to please/appease', 'tvām': 'you', 'tapas': 'austerity, ascetic power, spiritual merit', 'me': 'my', 'na': 'not', 'kṣaret': 'should perish/decline/be wasted', 'iti': 'thus'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Deva (Mahādeva/Śiva, implied)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even spiritual attainment can be endangered by pride and impulsive self-display; humility, confession of fault, and seeking divine grace are presented as the corrective that preserves one’s tapas (austerity and merit).

What is happening in the narrative?

After praising Mahadeva, the speaker bows and admits a moment of rashness expressed as pride and related faults, then prays for forgiveness and asks that his accumulated austerity not be diminished.