Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 23

Uttaṅka’s Petition for Madayantī’s Divine Earrings (Maṇikuṇḍala) — Agreement, Proof, and Vigilance

Devanagari script

ददानि पत्नीं कन्यां च स्वां ते दुहितरं द्विज । एतामृते<ड्रना नान्या त्वत्तेजो5हति सेवितुम्‌

Transliteration

dādāni patnīṁ kanyāṁ ca svāṁ te duhitaraṁ dvija | etām ṛte na anyā tvat-tejo 'hati sevitum, bhṛgu-kula-bhūṣaṇa ||

Translation

Gautama nói: “Hỡi bậc song sinh (dvija), ta dâng cho con cả người vợ của ta và đứa con gái đồng trinh—chính con ruột của ta. Ngoài nàng ra, không người nữ nào có thể chịu đựng và phụng sự một người rực rỡ như con, ô niềm trang sức của dòng Bhṛgu.”

Word by Word

• {'dādāni': 'I give

• I offer', 'patnīm': 'wife', 'kanyām': 'maiden daughter

• unmarried girl', 'svām': 'one’s own', 'te': 'to you', 'duhitaraṁ': 'daughter', 'dvija': 'twice-born (Brahmin/initiated man)', 'etām ṛte': 'except for her

• apart from her', 'na anyā': 'no other (woman)', 'tvat-tejaḥ': 'your splendor/ascetic radiance (spiritual potency)', 'ahati': 'is able

• is capable (to bear/endure)', 'sevitum': 'to serve

• to attend upon', 'bhṛgu-kula-bhūṣaṇa': 'ornament of the Bhṛgu family/lineage'}

Speaker

गौतम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Gautama
• a Brahmin ascetic addressed as dvija
• Bhṛgu lineage (Bhṛgukula)
• wife (patnī)
• daughter (duhitṛ/kanyā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how extraordinary spiritual potency (tejas) is treated as a decisive ethical and social factor: service and marital suitability are framed in terms of capacity to endure and harmonize with ascetic power, reflecting dharma-based reasoning rather than mere personal preference.

What is happening in the narrative?

Gautama addresses a Brahmin of the Bhṛgu line and, declaring himself fully satisfied, offers his wife and his maiden daughter, asserting that only this daughter can bear and serve the recipient’s intense ascetic radiance.