Shloka 20

Devanagari script

इति मातड्भवचन परीप्सन्ति हितेप्सव: । धर्माय चैव प्रणमेद्‌ ब्राह्मुणेभ्यश्व मद्विध:,“अपना हित चाहनेवाले मनुष्य मातंग मुनिके उपर्युक्त वचनको ही ग्रहण करते हैं; अतः मेरे-जैसा पुरुष केवल धर्म तथा ब्राह्मणको ही प्रणाम कर सकता है (शत्रुओंको नहीं)

Transliteration

iti mātaṅga-bhavacanaṃ parīpsanti hitepsavaḥ | dharmāya caiva praṇamed brāhmaṇebhyaś ca mad-vidhaḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Vì thế, những ai cầu lợi ích cho mình đều tiếp nhận và noi theo lời khuyên vừa nêu của hiền giả Mātaṅga. Bởi vậy, người như ta chỉ cúi lạy Dharma và các Brāhmaṇa—chứ không bao giờ cúi lạy kẻ thù.”

Word by Word

इतिthus

मातङ्गof Matanga (sage)

भवचनम्the (said) speech/statement

परीप्सन्तिdesire/seek

हितेप्सवःthose who seek their welfare

धर्मायto/for dharma

चand

एवonly/indeed

प्रणमेत्should bow/salute

ब्राह्मणेभ्यःto Brahmins

चand

मद्विधःone like me

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mātaṅga

Dharma

Brāhmaṇas

Enemies (śatravaḥ, implied)

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?

One should align one’s conduct with Dharma and honor those worthy of reverence (especially Brāhmaṇas); pragmatic self-interest should not lead to paying homage to adversaries in a way that compromises righteous principle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating the events, cites the earlier counsel attributed to the sage Mātaṅga and concludes that those who truly seek their welfare accept that counsel; accordingly, he states a norm of conduct: offering obeisance to Dharma and Brāhmaṇas, not to enemies.