Shloka 45

Devanagari script

अश्वमेधसहस्रस्य फल प्राप्रोत्यनुत्तमम्‌ रूपवत्यश्नल तं कन्या रमयन्ति सनातनम्‌

Transliteration

aśvamedha-sahasrasya phalaṁ prāpnoty anuttamam | rūpavatyaś ca taṁ kanyā ramayanti sanātanam ||

Translation

అతడు వెయ్యి అశ్వమేధ యజ్ఞాల ఫలానికి సమానమైన అనుత్తమ ఫలాన్ని పొందుతాడు; మరియు సౌందర్యవతులైన కన్యలు ఆ శాశ్వతుని ఆనందింపజేస్తారు.

Word by Word

अश्वमेधसहस्रस्यof a thousand Aśvamedha (sacrifices)

फलम्fruit, result

प्राप्नोतिattains

अनुत्तमम्unsurpassed, excellent

रूपवत्यःbeautiful (women)

अश्नन्तिeat, partake (of)

तम्him

कन्याःmaidens, girls

रमयन्तिdelight, please

सनातनम्eternal (one)

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

Aśvamedha (horse-sacrifice)

kanyāḥ (maidens)

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 functions as a phala-śruti: it magnifies the spiritual reward of the praised practice by equating it with the merit of a thousand Aśvamedha sacrifices, presenting it as a supreme (anuttama) attainment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Anuśāsana Parva, Bhīṣma is instructing Yudhiṣṭhira on dharma and the fruits of religious acts; here he states that the doer gains the highest merit—likened to vast sacrificial reward—and is portrayed as being delighted by beautiful maidens, a conventional image of heavenly enjoyment.