Shloka 17
Uttaṅka’s Petition for Madayantī’s Divine Earrings (Maṇikuṇḍala) — Agreement, Proof, and Vigilance
भवता त्वभ्यनुज्ञाता: शिष्या: प्रत्यवरा मम । उपपन्ना द्विजश्रेष्ठ शशशो5थ सहस्रश:
bhavatā tv abhyanujñātāḥ śiṣyāḥ pratyavarā mama | upapannā dvijaśreṣṭha śaśaśo ’tha sahasraśaḥ ||
Uttaṅka nói: “Bạch bậc tối thượng trong hàng Bà-la-môn! Với sự cho phép của Thầy, các đệ tử đến sau con—hàng trăm, thậm chí hàng nghìn—đã hoàn tất việc học, nhận lời cho phép rồi ra đi. Thế mà chỉ riêng con vẫn còn ở lại đây, như bị giữ lại.”
उत्तडुक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between personal impatience and disciplined obedience within the guru–śiṣya framework: others have completed their course and been formally dismissed, while the speaker feels left behind, implying a lesson about endurance, humility, and the proper completion of duty before seeking release.
Uttaṅka addresses his teacher (honorifically ‘dvijaśreṣṭha’), stating that many later students have come, finished their studies, received permission to depart, and left—whereas he alone remains, suggesting he has not yet been granted leave or is still bound by an unresolved obligation.