Shloka 30
उत्तङ्कोपाख्यानप्रारम्भः — Uttanka’s Tapas, Viṣṇu-stuti, and the Dhundhumāra Prophecy
Opening
आशड्कय मद्वचो होतद् धर्मलोपो भवेत् तव | जातोऊसि प्रथिते वंशे कुरूणां भरतर्षभ
āśaṅkya mad-vaco hotad dharma-lopo bhavet tava | jāto ’si prathite vaṃśe kurūṇāṃ bharatarṣabha ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Sinasabi ko ito dahil nangangamba akong, kung pagdududahan mo ang aking mga salita, baka humantong iyon sa pagkaligaw mo sa dharma. O toro sa angkan ng Bharata, isinilang ka sa bantog na lahi ng mga Kuru. Kaya kumilos ka nang karapat-dapat sa marangal na tradisyong iyon—ingatan ang katuwiran at huwag hayaang humina dahil sa maling pagkaunawa.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Speech and counsel must be given with care so that it does not cause a ‘dharma-lopa’ (a lapse from righteousness). One’s conduct should align with the standards of one’s noble lineage—here, the famed Kuru-Bharata tradition—so that dharma is preserved rather than diminished.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, frames his statement as a corrective or clarifying counsel: he fears that his earlier words might be misconstrued and lead the listener into unrighteousness. He therefore reminds the addressee that, being born in the celebrated Kuru line, he must uphold dharma befitting that heritage.