Shloka 28

पात्रलक्षण-परिक्षा (Pātra-Lakṣaṇa Parīkṣā) — Criteria for a Worthy Recipient

Devanagari script

तेषामेव प्रभावेण सहस्ननयनो हासौ । शतक्रतु: समभवत्‌ पश्य माधव यादृशम्‌

Transliteration

teṣām eva prabhāveṇa sahasranayano hy asau | śatakratuḥ samabhavat paśya mādhava yādṛśam ||

Translation

“正是凭那些婆罗门的威力，这位因陀罗才成了‘千眼者’。摩陀婆啊，你且看他们的神力何等惊人：由于他们的影响，印记生于其身，因而他得名娑诃斯罗阿叉（千眼）与沙多迦罗图（百祭者）。”

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• एव: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• प्रभावेण: by (their) power/influence
• प्रभावेण: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभाव
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• सहस्रनयनः: the thousand-eyed one (Indra)
• सहस्रनयनः: Karta
• Type: Noun (epithet)
• Root: सहस्रनयन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• हासौ: this one/that one (as such); (reading uncertain)
• हासौ: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हास
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• शतक्रतुः: Śatakratu (Indra, performer of a hundred sacrifices)
• शतक्रतुः: Karta
• Type: Noun (epithet)
• Root: शतक्रतु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• समभवत्: became/arose
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम् + भू
• Form: Imperfect (Laṅ), 3rd, Singular

• पश्य: see/behold
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Imperative (Loṭ), 2nd, Singular

• माधव: O Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)
• माधव: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun (vocative, proper epithet)
• Root: माधव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• यादृशम्: of what sort/how (it is)
• यादृशम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective (interrogative/relative)
• Root: यादृश
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva (speaker)
• Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa, addressee)
• Indra (Śatakratu, Sahasrākṣa)
• Brāhmaṇas (as possessors of prabhāva)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the moral and social idea that brāhmaṇas/ascetics, through tapas and spiritual authority (prabhāva), can decisively shape outcomes—even for gods—so one should treat such power with reverence and caution.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva points to Indra’s epithet ‘Sahasrākṣa’ and explains it as an effect of the brāhmaṇas’ influence: their potency caused distinctive marks that became symbolically reinterpreted as ‘eyes,’ establishing Indra’s famed designation.