Shloka 21

Nahūṣa as Ajagara: Virtue Hierarchy, Karmic Gati, and the Psychology of Mind–Intellect

Devanagari script

ततश्न यात्वा मरुधन्वपारश्व सदा भरनुर्वेदरतिप्रधाना: सरस्वतीमेत्य निवासकामा: सरस्ततो द्वैतवनं प्रतीयु:

Transliteration

tataś ca yātvā marudhanv-apārśvaṃ sadā bharanur-vedarati-pradhānāḥ | sarasvatīm etya nivāsakāmāḥ saras tato dvaitavanaṃ pratīyuḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana nói: Rồi sau đó, họ đi đến vùng giáp với Marudhanva. Những bậc anh hùng bậc nhất, vui thích nơi Veda và tinh thông cung thuật, vì mong tìm chốn cư trú, đã đến sông Sarasvatī; và từ hồ nước ấy, họ tiến vào rừng Dvaitavana.

Word by Word

ततःthen; thereafter

नnot

यात्वाhaving gone

मरुधन्वto Marudhanvan (a place/region)

अपारश्वाःhaving no flanks/without sides (epithet; very strong/unyielding)

सदाalways

भरनुःBharanu (name of a person/leader)

वेदरतिप्रधानाःchiefly devoted to delight in the Veda

सरस्वतीम्the Sarasvatī (river)

एत्यhaving come (to); having reached

निवासकामाḥdesiring to dwell (there)

सरःa lake

ततःfrom there; then

द्वैतवनम्Dvaītavana (forest)

प्रतीयुःthey went forth; they proceeded

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Marudhanva

Sarasvatī

saras (lake)

Dvaitavana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic ideal of balance: even while armed and capable in martial discipline, the travelers are described as devoted to Vedic learning and seek a proper place of residence, suggesting that strength is to be guided by sacred knowledge and orderly conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

The group moves onward in the wilderness: they travel to the vicinity of Marudhanva, reach the sacred Sarasvatī, and then proceed from a lake there to the forest called Dvaitavana, looking for a suitable place to stay.