Shloka 12

Ārṣṭiṣeṇa’s Siddhi and the Tīrtha-Boons; Sindhudvīpa–Devāpi Brāhmaṇya; Viśvāmitra’s Tapas Begins

Devanagari script

स तेन लग्नेन तदा द्विजातिर्न शशाक ह

Transliteration

sa tena lagnena tadā dvijātir na śaśāka ha

Translation

Bị sự mắc kẹt ấy giữ chặt ngay lúc bấy giờ, người “hai lần sinh” không thể hành động hay tiến bước—ý chí của ông bị điều đang níu giữ mình ngăn lại.

Word by Word

सःhe

तेनby/with that

लग्नेनstuck/attached; having clung

तदाthen

द्विजातिःthe twice-born (brahmin)

नnot

शशाकwas able

हindeed/for emphasis

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

वैशम्पायन (Vaiśampāyana)

dvijāti (a twice-born/Brahmin figure, unnamed here)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a learned or socially elevated person (dvijāti) can become powerless when bound by attachment or a constraining circumstance; ethical action requires freedom from such clinging and steadiness of resolve.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports that, due to being caught or held fast by something referred to as 'that bond/attachment' (tena lagnena), the twice-born man could not manage to act or continue—marking a moment of impediment in the unfolding events.