Shloka 31

Ajñātavāsa-saṅkalpaḥ — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Resolve and Dhaumya’s Exempla on Concealment

Devanagari script

यम उवाच मनो<नुकूलं बुधबुद्धिवर्धनं त्वया यदुक्तं वचन हिताश्रयम्‌ । विना पुन: सत्यवतो<स्य जीवितं वरं द्वितीयं वरयस्व भामिनि,यमराज बोले--भामिनी! तूने जो सबके हितकी बात कही है, वह मेरे मनके अनुकूल है तथा विद्वानोंकी भी बुद्धिको बढ़ानेवाली है; अतः इस सत्यवानके जीवनको छोड़कर तू दूसरा कोई वर और माँग ले

Transliteration

yama uvāca mano'nukūlaṃ budha-buddhi-vardhanaṃ tvayā yad uktaṃ vacanaṃ hitāśrayam | vinā punaḥ satyavato'sya jīvitaṃ varaṃ dvitīyaṃ varayasva bhāmini ||

Translation

Diêm Vương nói: “Hỡi phu nhân cao quý, những lời nàng thưa hợp ý ta, đặt nền trên lợi ích của muôn người, lại còn làm sâu thêm trí tuệ của bậc hiền triết. Vì vậy, hãy chọn một ân huệ thứ hai—nhưng hãy chọn mà không xin mạng sống của Satyavān này.”

Word by Word

• {'yama uvāca': 'Yama said', "mano'nukūlam": 'agreeable to (my) mind

• pleasing', 'budha': 'wise, learned person', 'buddhi-vardhanam': 'that which increases understanding

• intellectually ennobling', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'yad uktam': 'what has been said', 'vacanam': 'speech, statement', 'hitāśrayam': 'resting on welfare

• oriented toward the good of all', 'vinā': 'without, except', 'punaḥ': 'again

• further', 'satyavataḥ': 'of Satyavān', 'asya': 'of this (man)', 'jīvitam': 'life', 'varam': 'boon', 'dvitīyam': 'second', 'varayasva': 'choose

• ask for', 'bhāmini': 'O lady (honorific/vocative, often ‘noble/bright woman’)'}

Speaker

यम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• Satyavān
• Bhāminī (Sāvitrī, addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Speech grounded in universal welfare (hita) and dharma is praised as mind-pleasing and wisdom-enhancing; yet even when pleased, Yama sets a boundary—boons may be granted, but not in a way that overturns the ordained claim of death, highlighting restraint and the moral weight of requests.

What is happening in the narrative?

After hearing the woman’s dharmic and beneficial words, Yama commends her and offers her another boon, but explicitly excludes the restoration of Satyavān’s life, directing her to ask for something else.