Shloka 17

Ambā’s Vow of Tapas after Paraśurāma’s Assessment (अम्बाया तपोव्रतनिश्चयः)

Devanagari script

चकार सर्वयत्नेन ब्रुवाणा पुत्र इत्युत । नचतां वेद नगरे कश्रनिदन्यत्र पार्षतात्‌

Transliteration

cakāra sarvayatnena bruvāṇā putra ity uta | na ca tāṁ veda nagare kaścid anyatra pārṣatāt, narendra |

Translation

毗湿摩说道：王后竭尽一切办法，使这秘密深藏不露，只以“儿子”称呼那孩子。全城之中，无人知她本为女儿——唯有帕尔沙塔（德鲁帕达王）知晓，噢，人中之主。

Word by Word

• चकार: did, performed
• चकार: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (करणे)
• Form: Perfect (Liṭ), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• सर्वयत्नेन: with every effort
• सर्वयत्नेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सर्वयत्न
• Form: masculine, instrumental, singular

• ब्रुवाणा: saying, speaking
• ब्रुवाणा: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: ब्रू (वचने)
• Form: present active participle, feminine, nominative, singular

• पुत्रः: a son
• पुत्रः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• इति: thus, as (quotative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति

• उत: and, also (emphatic particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: उत

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• ताम्: her, that (girl)
• ताम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• वेद: knows
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (ज्ञाने)
• Form: Present (Laṭ), 3rd, singular, Parasmaipada

• नगरे: in the city
• नगरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: नगर
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• कश्चन: anyone, someone (at all)
• कश्चन: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: कश्चन (क + चन)
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• इदानीम्: now, at this time
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इदानीम्

• अन्यत्र: elsewhere, except
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यत्र

• पार्षतात्: from/except Pārṣata (Drupada)
• पार्षतात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्षत (द्रुपद)
• Form: masculine, ablative, singular

• नरेन्द्र: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरेन्द्र
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• Drupada (Pārṣata)
• Drupada’s queen
• the city (nagara)
• the concealed daughter (Śikhaṇḍinī/Śikhaṇḍī context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how royal households may employ concealment and social performance to secure political stability and succession. Ethically, it raises tension between pragmatic statecraft and the dharmic ideal of truthfulness, showing how perceived necessity can drive morally complex choices.

What is happening in the narrative?

Drupada’s queen carefully keeps hidden that the child is a girl, addressing her as a son and ensuring the secret remains unknown to the city. Only Drupada (Pārṣata) knows the truth, setting up the later significance of this child in the unfolding conflict.