Shloka 42

Devanagari script

अथ विज्ञापयामास भूमिस्तं शरणार्थिनी । संनिधौ लोकपालानां सर्वेषामेव भारत,भारत! तदनन्तर शरण चाहनेवाली भूमिने समस्त लोकपालोंके समीप अपना सारा दुःख ब्रह्माजीसे निवेदन किया। राजन! स्वयम्भू ब्रह्मा सबके कारणरूप हैं, अतः पृथ्वीका जो आवश्यक कार्य था वह उन्हें पहलेसे ही ज्ञात हो गया था

Transliteration

atha vijñāpayāmāsa bhūmis taṁ śaraṇārthinī | saṁnidhau lokapālānāṁ sarveṣām eva bhārata ||

Translation

于是，大地为求庇护而陈情——在诸世界护持者（护世者，Lokapāla）齐集之前，噢婆罗多。她当众倾诉自身的苦难，恳求护佑与匡正，使失衡得以复归，重负得以减轻。

Word by Word

• {'atha': 'then

• thereafter', 'vijñāpayāmāsa': 'informed

• made known (formal request)', 'bhūmiḥ': 'the Earth (personified as a goddess)', 'tam': 'that (matter)

• that grievance/affair (contextual object of petition)', 'śaraṇārthinī': 'seeking refuge

• desiring protection', 'saṁnidhau': 'in the presence of

• near', 'lokapālānām': 'of the world-protectors/guardians (cosmic regents)', 'sarveṣām': 'of all', 'eva': 'indeed

• emphatically', 'bhārata': 'O Bharata (address to the listener/descendant of Bharata)'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वैशम्पायन (Vaiśampāyana)
• भूमि (Bhūmi / Earth)
• लोकपाल (Lokapālas / guardians of the worlds)
• भारत (Bhārata)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When suffering becomes overwhelming, the righteous course is to seek protection through legitimate, higher authority rather than retaliate blindly. The verse frames governance—human and divine—as accountable to maintaining balance (dharma) and responding to the cries of the vulnerable.

What is happening in the narrative?

The Earth is personified as a supplicant. She approaches the assembled Lokapālas and formally presents her grievance, asking for refuge and relief—setting up the larger divine response to restore order when the world is overburdened by wrongdoing.