Shloka 203

Sārasvata–Dadhīca Upākhyāna at Sarasvatī Tīrtha

Balarāma’s Pilgrimage Context

Devanagari script

काष्ठ भूतो55श्रमपदे वसति सम महातपा: । आश्रममें प्रवेश करते ही देवलमुनिने वहाँ बैठे हुए जैगीषव्यको देखा

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: kāṣṭha-bhūto 'śrama-pade vasati sama-mahātapāḥ.

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Vị đại khổ hạnh ấy trú tại nơi ẩn thất như thể hóa thành gỗ—bất động, tự chế tuyệt đối. Khi Devala bước vào āśrama và thấy Jaigiṣavya đang ngồi đó, Jaigiṣavya vẫn không nói với ngài một lời nào, cứ an trú trong mauna (tịnh khẩu) khắc khổ, ngồi lặng như gỗ.

Word by Word

• काष्ठभूतः: become like a log (motionless/silent)
• काष्ठभूतः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: काष्ठभूत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• आश्रमपदे: in the place of the hermitage
• आश्रमपदे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आश्रमपद
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• वसति: dwells/lives
• Type: Verb
• Root: वस्
• Form: Present, Third, Singular, Parasmaipada

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महातपाः: a great ascetic
• महातपाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महातपस्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Devala
• Jaigiṣavya
• āśrama (hermitage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores that true tapas expresses itself as deep restraint—silence, stillness, and equanimity. Ethical strength is shown by mastery over speech and reaction, not by outward display.

What is happening in the narrative?

Devala enters the hermitage and sees the sage Jaigiṣavya seated there. Jaigiṣavya remains in kāṣṭha-like stillness and does not speak, maintaining a discipline of silence and self-possessed austerity.