Shloka 6

Cyavana Explains His Tests; Kuśika Seeks Brāhmaṇya for His Line (च्यवन–कुशिक संवादः)

Devanagari script

कथं पुत्रानतिक्रम्य तेषां नप्तृष्पथाभवत्‌ । एष दोष: सुतान्‌ हित्वा तत्त्वं व्याख्यातुमहसि

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |

kathaṃ putrān atikramya teṣāṃ naptṝṣv apathābhavat |

eṣa doṣaḥ sutān hitvā tattvaṃ vyākhyātum arhasi |

Translation

Sinabi ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “Paano naganap ang ganitong paglihis sa kanilang mga apo, na nilampasan ang kanilang mga anak? Mistulang isang pagkukulang ito—iniwan ang mga anak, ngunit sa mga apo lumitaw. Dapat mong ipaliwanag ang tunay na dahilan nito.”

Word by Word

• {'katham': 'how? in what manner?', 'putrān': 'sons (accusative plural of putra)', 'atikramya': 'having passed over

• bypassing (gerund of ati-√kram)', 'teṣām': 'of them (genitive plural)', 'naptṝṣu': 'among the grandsons (locative plural of naptr̥)', 'apathā': 'deviation from the proper path

• wrongdoing (lit. ‘not the path’)', 'abhavat': 'arose

• came to be (imperfect of √bhū)', 'eṣa': 'this', 'doṣaḥ': 'fault

• moral blemish', 'sutān': 'sons (accusative plural of suta)', 'hitvā': 'having left aside

• abandoning (gerund of √hā)', 'tattvam': 'the real truth

• the underlying principle', 'vyākhyātum': 'to explain

• to expound', 'arhasi': 'you are fit/ought (2nd person singular of √arh)'}

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical inquiry into how a perceived moral or social irregularity can manifest in a lineage, emphasizing the need to seek the underlying truth (tattva) rather than accept appearances.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira asks an elder authority to explain why a certain ‘fault’ or deviation is seen in the grandsons rather than in the sons, requesting a principled explanation of the causal chain behind the anomaly.