Shloka 4

Duḥṣantasya Vana-praveśaḥ

King Duḥṣanta’s Entry into the Forest Hunt

Devanagari script

इन्द्रत्वमहों राजायं तपसेत्यनुचिन्त्य वै । त॑ सान्त्वेन नृपं साक्षात्‌ तपस: संन्यवर्तयन्‌

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: indratvam aho rājāyaṁ tapasety anucintya vai | taṁ sāntvena nṛpaṁ sākṣāt tapasaḥ saṁnyavartayan ||

Translation

‘అహో! ఈ రాజు తపస్సుతో ఇంద్రత్వాన్ని కోరుచున్నాడు’ అని భావించి, దేవతలు ప్రత్యక్షమై సాంత్వనచేసి ఆ నృపుని తపస్సు నుండి నివర్తింపజేసిరి।

Word by Word

• इन्द्रत्वम्: Indra-hood, sovereignty of Indra
• इन्द्रत्वम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: इन्द्रत्व
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• अहो: indeed, ah!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहो

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अयम्: this
• अयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तपसा: by austerity
• तपसा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस्
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• इति: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• अनुचिन्त्य: having reflected, considering
• Type: Verb
• Root: अनु-चिन्त्
• Form: क्त्वा (absolutive/gerund), Parasmaipada (usage-neutral for gerund)

• वै: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सान्त्वेन: by conciliation, with soothing words
• सान्त्वेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सान्त्व
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• नृपम्: the king
• नृपम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• साक्षात्: directly, in person
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: साक्षात्

• तपसः: from austerity
• तपसः: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तपस्
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• संन्यवर्तयन्: they turned (him) back, made (him) desist
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-नि-वृत् (causative: वर्तयति)
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), Third, Plural, Parasmaipada

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Indra
• the king (rājā/nṛpa; identified in the surrounding narrative as Vasu)
• the gods (devatāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Austerity is powerful and can even threaten cosmic offices, but it should be guided by dharma and right intention; gentle counsel and restraint are preferable to conflict when redirecting potentially disruptive ambition.

What is happening in the narrative?

Seeing the king engaged in intense tapas, the gods suspect he aims to obtain Indra’s position; they appear before him and pacify him with conciliatory words, leading him to withdraw from the austerity.