Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 28

Baka Dālbhya at Avakīrṇa-tīrtha: Rāṣṭra-kṣaya and Release through Prasāda (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 40)

Devanagari script

स तु वत्रे वरं राजन्‌ स्यामहं ब्राह्मणस्त्विति

Transliteration

sa tu vavre varaṃ rājan syāham brāhmaṇas tv iti

Translation

แต่เขาได้เลือกขอพร โอ้พระราชา ว่า “ขอให้ข้าพเจ้าได้เป็นพราหมณ์เถิด”

Word by Word

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• वत्रे: in (that) vow/observance
• वत्रे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वत्र
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वरम्: a boon
• वरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• स्याम्: may I be
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Optative (Vidhi-lin), 1st, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ब्राह्मणः: a Brahmin
• ब्राह्मणः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्राह्मण
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्विति: thus (as quoted)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• king (rājan)
• brāhmaṇa (as a social-religious status)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a value-choice: seeking the identity and discipline of a brāhmaṇa—associated with learning, restraint, and sacred duty—over other possible boons tied to power or pleasure, suggesting that ethical-spiritual orientation can be a deliberate aspiration.

What is happening in the narrative?

A character, as reported by Vaiśaṃpāyana to the king, is described as choosing a boon; the boon requested is to become a brāhmaṇa, indicating a pivotal preference for a religious-ethical role within the story’s broader royal and war-time setting.