Shloka 6

पञ्चमहाभूतगुण-इन्द्रियनिग्रह-उपदेशः | Teaching on the Qualities of the Five Elements and Sense-Control

Devanagari script

कुवलाश्च इति ख्यात इक्ष्वाकुरपराजित: । कथं नामविपर्यासाद्‌ धुन्धुमारत्वमागत:,“विप्रवर! अब मैं यथार्थरूपसे यह सुनना चाहता हूँ कि इक्ष्वाकुवंशमें जो कुवलाश्व नामसे विख्यात विजयी राजा हो गये हैं, वे क्‍यों नाम बदलकर “धुन्धुमार' कहलाने लगे?

Transliteration

kuvalāśva iti khyāta ikṣvākur aparājitaḥ | kathaṁ nāma-viparyāsād dhundhumāratvam āgataḥ ||

Translation

வைசம்பாயனர் கூறினார்—இக்ஷ்வாகு குலத்தின் அஜேய அரசன் ‘குவலாஶ்வ’ எனப் புகழ்பெற்றிருந்தான்; பெயர் மாற்றத்தால் அவன் எவ்வாறு ‘துந்துமார’ என அறியப்பட்டான்?

Word by Word

कुवलाश्वःKuvalāśva (proper name)

चand

इतिthus (quotative)

ख्यातःrenowned, famed

इक्ष्वाकुof Ikṣvāku (dynasty/ancestor)

अपराजितःunconquered, victorious

कथम्how?

नामindeed; (also) name

विपर्यासात्from/owing to a change (reversal)

धुन्धुमारत्वम्the state/name ‘Dhundhumāra’

आगतःhas come to / became

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Kuvalāśva

Ikṣvāku (dynasty)

Dhundhumāra

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how a person’s public identity can be reshaped by deeds and the reputation that follows them; a change of name (epithet) often signals a significant moral or heroic episode that becomes the defining marker of one’s life.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana frames a question about the celebrated, undefeated Ikṣvāku king Kuvalāśva: why and by what circumstance his well-known name was replaced by the epithet ‘Dhundhumāra’, setting up the story that explains this transformation.