Shloka 25

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament and Kṛṣṇa’s Rudra-Cosmogony Explanation (सौप्तिक पर्व, अध्याय १७)

Devanagari script

तपसाधिगतं चाजन्न॑ प्रजार्थ मे पितामह । ओषध्य: परिवर्तेरन्‌ यथैवं सततं प्रजा:

Transliteration

tapasādhigataṃ cājñaṃ prajārthaṃ me pitāmaha | oṣadhyaḥ parivarteran yathaivaṃ satataṃ prajāḥ ||

Translation

ข้าแต่ปิตามหะ! คำบัญชานี้ข้าพเจ้าได้มาด้วยตบะเพื่อประโยชน์แห่งประชา ขอให้หมู่โอสถพฤกษาเวียนเกิดใหม่ครั้งแล้วครั้งเล่า เพื่อให้ประชาชนเจริญรุ่งเรืองสืบไปมิขาดสาย

Word by Word

तपसाby austerity

अधिगतंobtained/attained

चand

अजन्O Unborn one (Brahmā)

प्रजार्थम्for the sake of progeny

मेof me / my

पितामहO grandsire

ओषध्यःmedicinal herbs/plants

परिवर्तेरन्would turn/undergo change

यथाas / just as

एवम्thus

सततम्always/continually

प्रजाःcreatures/progeny

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pitāmaha (honorific ‘Grandfather’)

oṣadhyaḥ (medicinal herbs)

prajāḥ (the subjects/people)

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?

Authority gained through tapas should be directed toward prajā-hita (the welfare of the people). The verse frames governance as protective and restorative—ensuring resources like healing herbs remain available so society can endure and recover.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker reports a boon-like ordinance acquired through austerity and expresses (or relays) a wish that medicinal herbs continually regenerate, so that the population may be sustained without interruption.