Shloka 143

Rājagṛhe Magadheśvarasya yuddhāhvānam — Arjunena saṃyamaḥ

The Rājagṛha Challenge and Arjuna’s Restraint

Devanagari script

प्रययुस्तांस्तदा राजन्नुग्रसेनो न्यवारयत्‌ | राजन! वहाँ यदुवंशी वीरोंके बालकोंने उस उत्तम अश्वको बलपूर्वक पकड़कर युद्धके लिये उद्योग किया; परंतु महाराज उग्रसेनने उन्हें रोक दिया

Transliteration

prayayus tāṁs tadā rājan ugrasenō nyavārayat |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Tâu Đại vương, đúng lúc ấy, khi họ đang sửa soạn lên đường, Ugrasena đã ngăn lại. Bởi các con trai còn trẻ của những dũng sĩ dòng Yadu đã dùng sức đoạt lấy con ngựa tế lễ tuyệt hảo ấy và chuẩn bị giao chiến; nhưng vua Ugrasena đã kìm giữ họ, ngăn một cuộc xung đột bồng bột.”

Word by Word

• प्रययुः: went forth / departed
• प्रययुः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-या (धातु: या)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद), 3, Plural

• तान्: them
• तान्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Plural

• तदा: then
• तदा: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• उग्रसेनः: Ugrasena
• उग्रसेनः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उग्रसेन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• न्यवारयत्: restrained / stopped
• Type: Verb
• Root: नि-वारय् (धातु: वॄ/वृ + णिच्)
• Form: लङ् (परस्मैपद), 3, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Ugrasena
• the King (listener, traditionally Janamejaya)
• Yadu lineage youths (sons of Yādava heroes)
• Aśvamedha horse

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights royal and ethical restraint: even when young warriors are eager to assert strength, an elder-king must curb impulsive violence, protecting dharma by preventing needless escalation around a sacred rite (the Aśvamedha).

What is happening in the narrative?

The youths of the Yadu clan forcibly seize the sacrificial horse and ready themselves for combat, but Ugrasena intervenes and stops them as they are about to proceed, averting an immediate outbreak of fighting.