Shloka 43

Vṛddha-kanyā-carita and Balarāma’s Kurukṣetra Inquiry (वृद्धकन्या-चरितम् / कुरुक्षेत्रफल-प्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

अथ वकद्रिदृषिस्तेषां सारस्वतमुपेयिवान्‌

Transliteration

atha vakadr̥dṛṣis teṣāṃ sārasvatam upeyivān

Translation

वैशम्पायन उवाच—अथ वकद्रिदृषिर्ऋषिस्तेषां पुरतः सारस्वतमुपेयिवान्।

Word by Word

• अथ: then, now
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• वकद्रिदृषिः: Vakadridṛṣi (a sage; proper name/epithet)
• वकद्रिदृषिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: वकद्रिदृषि
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तेषाम्: of them
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• सारस्वतम्: Sārasvata (Dvaipāyana/Vyāsa; or the sage Sārasvata), to him
• सारस्वतम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सारस्वत
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उपेयिवान्: having approached; approached
• Type: Verb
• Root: उप-इ
• Form: क्वसुँ (perfect active participle), Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vakadr̥dṛṣi
• Sārasvata

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even in the midst of conflict, the epic foregrounds the role of ṛṣis: moral and strategic clarity is sought through learned counsel, reminding listeners that dharma is preserved by guidance, restraint, and right discernment.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reports a shift of scene: the sage Vakadr̥dṛṣi goes to meet Sārasvata, indicating an impending exchange—typically advice, mediation, or a consequential instruction—set before the assembled parties (“of them”).