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Shloka 12

युधिष्ठिरप्रश्नः—विश्वामित्रस्य ब्राह्मणत्वकौतूहलम् | Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry on Viśvāmitra’s Attainment of Brāhmaṇya

तथैवास्य भयाद्‌ बद्ध्वा वसिष्ठ: सलिले पुरा । आत्मानं मज्जयन्‌ श्रीमान्‌ विपाश: पुनरुत्थित:

tathaivāsya bhayād baddhvā vasiṣṭhaḥ salile purā | ātmānaṃ majjayan śrīmān vipāśaḥ punarutthitaḥ ||

یُدھِشٹھِر نے کہا—اسی طرح قدیم زمانے میں اُس کے خوف سے درخشاں وسِشٹھ نے اپنے جسم کو رسی سے باندھ کر پانی میں ڈوب مرنے کی کوشش کی؛ مگر اُس ندی نے اسے پھندے سے آزاد کر کے پھر اوپر اٹھا دیا۔

तथाthus, in the same way
तथा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootतथा
एवindeed, just
एव:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootएव
अस्यof him
अस्य:
TypePronoun
Rootइदम्
Formmasculine/neuter, genitive, singular
भयात्from fear
भयात्:
Apadana
TypeNoun
Rootभय
Formneuter, ablative, singular
बद्ध्वाhaving bound
बद्ध्वा:
TypeVerb
Rootबन्ध्
Formक्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), parasmaipada (usage), having bound
वसिष्ठःVasiṣṭha
वसिष्ठः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootवसिष्ठ
Formmasculine, nominative, singular
सलिलेin water
सलिले:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootसलिल
Formneuter, locative, singular
पुराformerly, once
पुरा:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootपुरा
आत्मानम्himself
आत्मानम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootआत्मन्
Formmasculine, accusative, singular
मज्जयन्submerging (himself)
मज्जयन्:
TypeVerb
Rootमज्ज्
Formशतृ (present active participle), masculine, nominative, singular
श्रीमान्illustrious, venerable
श्रीमान्:
TypeAdjective
Rootश्रीमत्
Formmasculine, nominative, singular
विपाशःVipāśā (the river)
विपाशः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootविपाशा
Formfeminine (river-name; form here treated as masc. nom. sg. in some recensions), nominative, singular
पुनःagain
पुनः:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootपुनः
उत्थितःrisen up, emerged
उत्थितः:
TypeVerb
Rootउत्-स्था
Formक्त (past passive participle), masculine, nominative, singular

युधिछिर उवाच

Y
Yudhiṣṭhira
V
Vasiṣṭha
V
Viśvāmitra
V
Vipāśā (river)

Educational Q&A

Even under intense fear and pressure, a person of spiritual strength and integrity is not ultimately overcome; the episode also frames how a righteous life and great deeds become memorialized in sacred geography, turning a place into a moral reminder.

Yudhiṣṭhira recounts an old incident: Vasiṣṭha, terrified (in the background of the Viśvāmitra–Vasiṣṭha hostility), ties himself with a rope and attempts to drown in a river, but the river releases him from the bond and he rises again; from this event the river becomes known as Vipāśā, ‘free from the noose.’