Shloka 27

नियोगप्रसङ्गः — The Niyoga Episode: Births of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura

Devanagari script

पृथ्वद्यैर्भातृभि: सार्थ द्यौस्तदा तां जहार गाम्‌ तया कमलतपत्राक्ष्या नियुक्तो द्यौस्तदा नृप

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | pṛthvadyair bhrātṛbhiḥ sārthaṃ dyaus tadā tāṃ jahāra gām | tayā kamalatapatrākṣyā niyukto dyaus tadā nṛpa |

Translation

اے بادشاہ! کمل کے پتے جیسی آنکھوں والی بیوی کے اکسانے پر، پرتھو وغیرہ بھائیوں کے ساتھ، وَسو دَیَو نے اس وقت اس گائے کو اٹھا لیا۔

Word by Word

• पृथु-आद्यैः: by Prithu and the others
• पृथु-आद्यैः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथु (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• भ्रातृभिः: by (his) brothers
• भ्रातृभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• सार्थम्: together (with)
• सार्थम्: Karana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सार्थम् (अव्यय)
• Form: true

• द्यौः: Dyu (a Vasu)
• द्यौः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्यौ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: true

• ताम्: her/that (cow)
• ताम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• जहार: carried off/abducted
• Type: Verb
• Root: हृ (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• गाम्: the cow
• गाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• तया: by her
• तया: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• कमल-तल-पत्र-अक्ष्या: by (the lady) whose eyes are like lotus-leaves
• कमल-तल-पत्र-अक्ष्या: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कमल (प्रा.) + तल (प्रा.) + पत्र (प्रा.) + अक्षि (प्रा.)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• नियुक्तः: urged/impelled
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि-युज् (धातु) → नियुक्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, Past passive participle (क्त)

• द्यौः: Dyu
• द्यौः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: द्यौ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा (अव्यय)
• Form: true

• नृप: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: नृप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Dyaus (Vasu)
• Pṛthu
• other Vasus (brothers of Dyaus)
• Vasiṣṭha
• Dyaus's wife (lotus-eyed)
• the cow (Vasiṣṭha’s cow)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even exalted beings fall when they violate dharma under the pressure of desire. Pleasing a loved one cannot justify taking what belongs to a sage; ignoring the moral and spiritual consequences (especially the force of tapas and the certainty of accountability) leads to downfall.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dyaus, one of the Vasus, is persuaded by his lotus-eyed wife to obtain a particular cow. With his brothers’ help he abducts the cow belonging to the sage Vasiṣṭha, failing to anticipate the sage’s ascetic power and the resulting curse that will cause Dyaus’s fall from heaven.