Shloka 14

वनप्रस्थानम् (Departure for the Forest) — Āraṇyaka-parva, Adhyāya 24

Devanagari script

ब्राह्मणा: साम्निहोत्राश्न तथैव च निरग्नय: । स्वाध्यायिनो भिक्षवश्ष॒ तथैव वनवासिन:,वहाँ बहुत-से अन्निहोत्री ब्राह्मणों, निरग्निकों, स्वाध्यायपरायण ब्रह्मचारियों, वानप्रस्थियों, संन्यासियों, सैकड़ों कठोर व्रतका पालन करनेवाले तपःसिद्ध महात्माओं तथा अन्य अनेक ब्राह्मणोंने महाराज युधिष्ठिरको घेर लिया

Transliteration

brāhmaṇāḥ sāmnihotrāś ca tathaiva ca niragnayaḥ | svādhyāyino bhikṣavaś ca tathaiva vanavāsinaḥ ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: Многие брахманы — одни поддерживавшие священные огни агнихотры, другие жившие без огня, — а также ученики Вед, преданные чтению, нищие-аскеты и лесные отшельники собрались вокруг царя Юдхиштхиры. Их присутствие передаёт нравственную тяжесть дхармы: царя окружает не оружие, а подвижничество, учёность и власть духовной практики.

Word by Word

ब्राह्मणाःBrahmins

साम्निहोत्राश्चSāmnihotra-performers (those maintaining the daily fire-rite)

तथाthus; likewise

एवindeed; just; also

चand

निरग्नयःthose without (sacred) fires

स्वाध्यायिनःstudents devoted to self-study (Vedic reciters)

भिक्षवःmendicants; beggars (monks)

तथाlikewise

एवalso; indeed

वनवासिनःforest-dwellers

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

brāhmaṇāḥ (Brahmins)

agnihotrins (keepers of sacred fires)

niragnis (those without ritual fires)

svādhyāyins (Veda-students/reciters)

bhikṣus (mendicants)

vanavāsins (forest-dwellers)

Yudhiṣṭhira

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 the many legitimate modes of dharmic life—ritual household discipline (agnihotra), austerity without fires, Vedic study, mendicancy, and forest-dwelling. Together they represent spiritual authority that can guide and morally evaluate a king, implying that true power is accountable to dharma and tapas.

What is happening in the narrative?

A large group of Brahmins and ascetics—fire-keepers, fireless ascetics, Veda-reciting students, mendicants, and forest-dwellers—assemble and surround King Yudhiṣṭhira during the forest-exile setting, indicating a significant encounter where counsel, requests, or moral scrutiny may follow.