Shloka 2

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

Devanagari script

वैशग्पायन उवाच श्रूयतां राजशार्दूल महदाश्चर्यमुत्तमम्‌ । अश्वमेधे महायज्ञे निवृत्ते यदभूत्‌ प्रभो

Transliteration

Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca: śrūyatāṃ rājaśārdūla mahad āścaryam uttamam | aśvamedhe mahāyajñe nivṛtte yad abhūt prabho ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说道：“听我说，王中之虎啊。我将叙述一件至为奇异的事。当那盛大的阿湿婆梅陀（马祭）大祭依礼圆满结束之时，主上啊，就在那一刻，发生了非同寻常的变故。”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca', 'definition': '‘Vaiśaṃpāyana said’

• the narrator’s speech marker'}, {'term': 'śrūyatām', 'definition': '‘let it be heard / please listen’ (polite imperative)'}, {'term': 'rājaśārdūla', 'definition': '‘tiger among kings’

• honorific for a great ruler (here, the addressed king)'}, {'term': 'mahat', 'definition': 'great, mighty'}, {'term': 'āścaryam', 'definition': 'wonder, marvel, astonishing event'}, {'term': 'uttamam', 'definition': 'supreme, excellent, most eminent'}, {'term': 'aśvamedha', 'definition': 'the Aśvamedha

• royal horse-sacrifice asserting sovereignty'}, {'term': 'mahāyajña', 'definition': 'great sacrifice

• major Vedic rite'}, {'term': 'nivṛtte', 'definition': 'when concluded/finished

• after completion'}, {'term': 'yad abhūt', 'definition': 'what happened/occurred'}, {'term': 'prabho', 'definition': 'O lord

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• rājaśārdūla (addressed king, contextually Yudhiṣṭhira)
• Aśvamedha (sacrifice)
• mahāyajña (great sacrifice)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames a dharmic narrative: even after a grand royal rite like the Aśvamedha is completed, moral and spiritual meaning unfolds through unexpected events. It signals that dharma is not only ritual performance but also the ethical significance revealed by what follows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana, as narrator, addresses the king with honorifics and announces that he will describe a remarkable incident that occurred immediately after the completion of Yudhiṣṭhira’s great Aśvamedha sacrifice.