Shloka 41

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

Devanagari script

विवस्वतस्त्वं तनय: प्रतापवां- स्ततो हि वैवस्वत उच्यसे बुध: । समेन धर्मेण चरन्ति ता: प्रजा- स्ततस्तवेहेश्वर धर्मराजता,देवेश्वरर आप विवस्वान्‌ (सूर्य)-के प्रतापी पुत्र हैं; इसलिये विद्वान्‌ पुरुष आपको वैवस्वत कहते हैं। आप समस्त प्रजाके साथ समतापूर्वक धर्मानुसार आचरण करते हैं, इसलिये आप धर्मराज कहलाते हैं

Transliteration

vivasvatas tvaṃ tanayaḥ pratāpavān

tato hi vaivasvata ucyase budhaḥ |

samena dharmeṇa caranti tāḥ prajāḥ

tatas taveheśvara dharmarājatā ||

Translation

Diêm Vương nói: “Ngươi là người con hùng mạnh của Vivasvān (Thần Mặt Trời), nên bậc hiền trí gọi ngươi là ‘Vaivasvata’. Vì ngươi hành xử theo dharma một cách công bằng giữa muôn loài—đối đãi thần dân vô tư theo lẽ chính—nên ở cõi này ngươi được xưng là Dharmarāja, bậc vương và thẩm phán của dharma.”

Word by Word

• {'vivasvataḥ': 'of Vivasvān (the Sun-god)', 'tvaṃ': 'you', 'tanayaḥ': 'son', 'pratāpavān': 'powerful, radiant, mighty', 'tataḥ': 'therefore, hence', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'vaivasvataḥ': 'descendant/son of Vivasvān

• epithet ‘Vaivasvata’', 'ucyase': 'are called', 'budhaḥ': 'the wise (person)

• wise men', 'samena': 'with equality, impartially', 'dharmeṇa': 'by/according to dharma (righteous law, moral order)', 'caranti': 'act, conduct themselves, move/behave', 'prajāḥ': 'subjects, creatures, beings', 'tava': 'your', 'iha': 'here (in this world/realm)', 'īśvara': 'lord', 'dharmarājatā': 'the status/name of being Dharmarāja

Speaker

यम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• Vivasvān (Sūrya)
• Vaivasvata
• Dharmarāja
• prajāḥ (subjects/creatures)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True authority in dharma rests on impartial conduct: one becomes ‘Dharmarāja’ not merely by power or birth, but by applying dharma evenly to all beings without favoritism.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yama addresses the interlocutor by praising his divine lineage from Vivasvān and explaining the origin of his epithets—‘Vaivasvata’ (son of Vivasvān) and ‘Dharmarāja’ (because he governs/acts with equal justice according to dharma among all subjects).