Shloka 4

Nahūṣa-Ājagara Saṃvāda: Yudhiṣṭhira’s Definition of Brāhmaṇa and the ‘Vedyam’ Debate

Devanagari script

अवाप्य वासं नरदेवपुत्रा: प्रसादजं वैश्रवणस्य राज्ञ: न प्राणिनां ते स्पृहयन्ति राजन्‌ शिवश्व काल: स बभूव तेषाम्‌

Transliteration

avāpya vāsaṁ naradevaputrāḥ prasādajaṁ vaiśravaṇasya rājñaḥ | na prāṇināṁ te spṛhayanti rājan śivaś ca kālaḥ sa babhūva teṣām ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: Nhờ ân huệ của vua Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera) mà được ban cho một nơi cư trú, hỡi Đại vương, các hoàng tử ấy sống mà không thèm muốn tài vật của bất cứ sinh linh nào khác. Với họ, chính thời gian cũng trở nên cát tường và hiền hòa—được ghi dấu bởi an lạc chứ không bởi tai hại.

Word by Word

• अवाप्य: having obtained
• Type: Verb
• Root: अवाप् (धातु)
• Form: ल्यप् (क्त्वान्त/अव्ययीभाव-भावे), कर्तरि, having obtained

• वासम्: dwelling, residence
• वासम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वास (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• नरदेवपुत्राः: sons of the king (lit. god among men)
• नरदेवपुत्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरदेवपुत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• प्रसादजम्: born of (his) favor; granted by grace
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रसादज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• वैश्रवणस्य: of Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैश्रवण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• राज्ञः: of the king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• प्राणिनाम्: of living beings
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्राणिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• ते: they
• ते: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• स्पृहयन्ति: desire, long for
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्पृह् (धातु)
• Form: Present, Indicative, Parasmaipada, 3rd, Plural

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

• शिवः: auspicious, favorable
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शिव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• कालः: time
• कालः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सः: that, he (i.e., that time)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• बभूव: became, was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: Perfect, Indicative, Parasmaipada, 3rd, Singular

• तेषाम्: for them, of them
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera)
• naradevaputrāḥ (sons of a king)
• kāla (Time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Contentment and non-covetousness (aspṛhā) are presented as dharmic virtues: when one lives by rightful means and does not crave others’ possessions, even 'time' (kāla)—often feared as a force of loss—becomes śiva, i.e., favorable and welfare-producing.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator states that the king’s sons obtained a residence through the favor of King Vaiśravaṇa (Kubera). Settled there, they lived without coveting what belonged to other beings, and their period of life there is described as one in which time itself proved auspicious for them.