Shloka 1

Devanagari script

््ड् #<+ (9) #::..# #25-१ द्र्याधिकद्विशततमो< ध्याय: उत्तड़कका राजा बृहदश्चवसे धुन्धुका वध करनेके लिये आग्रह मार्कण्डेय उवाच इक्ष्वाकौ संस्थिते राजन्‌ शशाद: पृथिवीमिमाम्‌ । प्राप्त: परमधर्मात्मा सोडयोध्यायां नृपो5भवत्‌,मार्कण्डेयजी कहते हैं--राजन्‌! महाराज इक्ष्वाकुके देहावसानके पश्चात्‌ उनके परम धर्मात्मा पुत्र शशाद इस पृथ्वीपर राज्य करने लगे। वे अयोध्यामें रहते थे

Transliteration

Mārkaṇḍeya uvāca — Ikṣvākau saṁsthite rājan śaśādaḥ pṛthivīm imām | prāptaḥ paramadharmātmā so ’yodhyāyāṁ nṛpo ’bhavat ||

Translation

马尔坎ḍेय说道：“噢，大王！伊克什瓦库（Ikṣvāku）逝去之后，他那具至高正法之德的儿子沙沙达（Śaśāda）继而统治此大地；他成为居于阿逾陀（Ayodhyā）的国王。”

Word by Word

इक्ष्वाकौin/when (king) Ikṣvāku

संस्थितेhaving died / having come to an end

राजन्O king

शशादःŚaśāda (proper name)

पृथिवीम्the earth

इमाम्this

प्राप्तःhaving attained / endowed with

परमधर्मात्माsupremely righteous-souled

सःhe

अयोध्यायाम्in Ayodhyā

नृपःking

अभवत्became / was

Speaker

मार्कण्डेय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Mārkaṇḍeya

Ikṣvāku

Śaśāda

Ayodhyā

Pṛthivī (the earth)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames legitimate kingship as grounded in dharma: succession is not merely hereditary, but ideally marked by the heir’s ‘parama-dharma’—a moral fitness to rule and uphold order on earth.

What is happening in the narrative?

Mārkaṇḍeya begins a dynastic account: after Ikṣvāku’s death, his son Śaśāda assumes sovereignty over the earth and rules from Ayodhyā, establishing the setting for the subsequent story.