Shloka 48

Aṣṭāvakra’s Visit to Kubera: Hospitality, Temptation, and the Ethics of Restraint (अष्टावक्र-वैश्रवणोपाख्यानम्)

Devanagari script

रुजा शूलकृता चैव न ते विप्र भविष्यति । आधिभिव्यधिभिश्रैव वर्जितस्त्वं भविष्यसि

Transliteration

rujā śūlakṛtā caiva na te vipra bhaviṣyati | ādhibhir vyādhibhiś caiva varjitas tvaṃ bhaviṣyasi ||

Translation

Māṇḍavya nói: “Hỡi bậc Bà-la-môn, nỗi đau do cọc nhọn gây ra sẽ không thuộc về ngươi; và ngươi sẽ được giải thoát khỏi mọi khổ não của tâm cùng bệnh tật của thân.”

Word by Word

• रुजा: by pain
• रुजा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुज् (स्त्री. प्रातिपदिक: रुजा)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• शूलकृता: caused by the stake/spear
• शूलकृता: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शूलकृत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• ते: to you/for you
• ते: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Dative, Singular

• विप्र: O brahmin
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• भविष्यति: will be/occur
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: Simple Future (लृट्), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• आधिभिः: by mental afflictions/anxieties
• आधिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• व्यधिभिः: by diseases
• व्यधिभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• वर्जितः: devoid of/free from
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वर्जित (कृदन्त; √वृज्/वर्ज्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Nominative, Singular

• भविष्यसि: you will be/become
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: Simple Future (लृट्), 2nd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

माण्डव्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Māṇḍavya
• vipra (brāhmaṇa addressee)
• śūla (stake/impaling instrument)
• ādhi (mental affliction)
• vyādhi (disease)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that wrongful external suffering need not culminate in inner ruin: the promised freedom from pain, anxiety, and disease frames an ethical ideal that injustice is ultimately answerable to a higher moral order, and that spiritual merit can neutralize the effects of inflicted harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

Māṇḍavya recounts (or cites) an assurance given to a brāhmaṇa who has been impaled on a stake: despite the execution-like punishment, he is told that the stake will not cause him pain and that he will be free from mental distress and physical illness.