Shloka 21

कुरुसभायां केशवागमन-सत्कारविधानम् / Preparations to Honor Keśava at the Kuru Court

Devanagari script

अवतीर्य रथात्‌ तूर्ण कृत्वा शौच॑ यथाविधि । रथमोचनमादिश्य संध्यामुपविवेश ह,शत्रुवीरोंका संहार करनेवाले भगवान्‌ श्रीकृष्ण जब वृकस्थलमें पहुँचे, उस समय नाना किरणोंसे मण्डित सूर्य अस्त होने लगे और पश्चिमके आकाशमें लाली छा गयी। तब भगवानने शीघ्र ही रथसे उतरकर उसे खोलनेकी आज्ञा दी और विधिपूर्वक शौच-स्नान करके वे संध्योपासना करने लगे

Transliteration

avaīrya rathāt tūrṇaṁ kr̥tvā śaucaṁ yathāvidhi | rathamocanam ādiśya sandhyām upaviveśa ha ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说：他迅速下了战车，依仪轨完成应行的净礼。又吩咐解轭卸车，便端坐行暮时礼拜（sandhyā）。

Word by Word

अवतीर्यhaving descended

रथात्from the chariot

तूर्णम्quickly

कृत्वाhaving done

शौचम्purification/cleanliness (ritual cleansing)

यथा-विधिaccording to rule

रथ-मोचनम्unharnessing/releasing of the chariot (horses/gear)

आदिश्यhaving instructed/ordered

सन्ध्याम्the twilight worship (sandhyā)

उपविवेशsat down (to perform)

हindeed/for emphasis

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

ratha (chariot)

sandhyā (twilight worship)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores steadiness in dharma: even when major political and military decisions loom, one should not abandon prescribed discipline, purity, and reverence. Ethical strength is shown through self-regulation and faithful observance of duties at the proper time.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator describes a pause in travel: the personage (contextually Kṛṣṇa in the surrounding passage) quickly gets down from the chariot, performs the required purification, orders the chariot to be unyoked, and then sits to perform the Sandhyā (twilight) worship.