Shloka 125

कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः

Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma

Devanagari script

ततस्तमेव शरणं गतो<5स्मि विधिवत्‌ तदा । वरेण्यं वरदं देव॑ं मनसा कर्मणैव च

Transliteration

tatastam eva śaraṇaṃ gato 'smi vidhivat tadā | vareṇyaṃ varadaṃ devaṃ manasā karmaṇaiva ca ||

Translation

ततस्तमेव शरणं गतोऽस्मि विधिवत् तदा । वरेण्यं वरदं देवं मनसा कर्मणैव च ॥ युधिष्ठिर! अहं निरन्तरं धावन् चिन्ताकुलोऽभवम्; बहुवर्षाणि भ्रमन्नपि तस्य महात्मनः शरीरस्यान्तं नालभे, तदा मनसा वाचा क्रियया च तमेव वरदं वरेण्यं देवं विधिपूर्वकं शरणं प्रपन्नवान् ॥

Word by Word

• {'tatas': 'then, thereafter', 'tam eva': 'that very (one), precisely him', 'śaraṇam': 'refuge, protection', 'gataḥ asmi': 'I have gone (to), I have resorted to', 'vidhivat': 'according to rule

• duly, in proper manner', 'tadā': 'at that time', 'vareṇyam': 'worthy to be chosen

• most excellent, venerable', 'varadam': 'giver of boons', 'devam': 'god, deity', 'manasā': 'with the mind

• mentally', 'karmaṇā': 'by action

• through deeds', 'eva': 'indeed, precisely', 'ca': 'and', 'yudhiṣṭhira': 'Yudhiṣṭhira (addressed vocatively)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• deva (unnamed deity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When human effort and prolonged searching reach their limit, one should turn—duly and wholeheartedly—to a worthy refuge. The verse emphasizes disciplined surrender (vidhivat) and inner-outer alignment: seeking with mind and with action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that after long, anxious wandering and failing to find the end or outcome connected with a great being’s body, he formally takes refuge in a boon-giving, venerable deity, addressing Yudhiṣṭhira as the listener.