Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 1133

Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha

Devanagari script

आशया परया प्राप्तो न चाहं काज्चनीकृतः । इसी उद्देश्यसे मैं बड़े हर्ष और उत्साहके साथ बारंबार अनेकानेक तपोवनों और यज्ञस्थलोंमें जाया-आया करता हूँ। परम बुद्धिमान्‌ कुरुराज युधिष्ठिरके इस यज्ञका बड़ा भारी शोर सुनकर मैं बड़ी आशा लगाये यहाँ आया था; किंतु मेरा शरीर यहाँ सोनेका न हो सका

Transliteration

āśayā parayā prāpto na cāhaṃ kāñcanīkṛtaḥ |

Translation

说话者道：“我怀着至高的希望来到此处，却并未化为黄金。”为此目的，我满怀欢喜与热忱，屡屡往来于无数苦行林与祭祀之地。听闻至智的俱卢王由提施提罗此祭声名震天，我便寄以厚望而来；然而在此，我的身体终究未能变成黄金。

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'āśayā', 'definition': 'with hope

• by expectation (instrumental of āśā/āśaya)'}, {'term': 'parayā', 'definition': 'supreme, highest, intense (instrumental feminine of para)'}, {'term': 'prāptaḥ', 'definition': 'arrived

• reached (past participle of √āp with pra-)'}, {'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not'}, {'term': 'ca', 'definition': 'and

• but'}, {'term': 'aham', 'definition': 'I'}, {'term': 'kāñcanīkṛtaḥ', 'definition': 'made into gold

Speaker

श्षशुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kuru king (Kuru-rāja)
• Aśvamedha (horse sacrifice, implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Hope for reward—especially miraculous or external reward—does not by itself produce spiritual fruition. The verse underscores that the ethical and inner basis of merit matters more than merely arriving at a famous sacrifice with expectations.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker (identified here as “śvaśuraḥ”) reports that he came to Yudhiṣṭhira’s renowned sacrifice with great expectation, but the anticipated transformation into gold did not occur, prompting reflection on what truly yields the fruit of a rite.