Shloka 24

अध्याय ३३ — कर्म, दैव, हठ, स्वभाव और पुरुषार्थ पर द्रौपदी का उपदेश

Draupadī on Action, Fate, and Human Effort

Devanagari script

यस्य चार्थार्थमेवार्थ: स च नार्थस्य कोविद: । रक्षेत भूतको5रण्ये यथा गास्तादूगेव सः,“जिसका धन केवल धनके ही लिये है, दान आदिके लिये नहीं है, वह धनके तत्त्वको नहीं जानता। जैसे सेवक (ग्वालिया) वनमें गौओंकी रक्षा करता है, उसी प्रकार वह भी उस धनका दूसरेके लिये रक्षकमात्र है

Transliteration

yasya cārthārtham evārthaḥ sa ca nārthasya kovidaḥ | rakṣet bhūtakaraṇye yathā gās tāḍūga iva saḥ ||

Translation

若有人只为财富本身而珍视财富，而不将其用于更高的目的，如布施与依正法而用，他便不懂财富的本性。正如受雇的牧牛人于林中替他人看守牛群，此人也不过是替别人守财；到头来，这些财物终将归于他人。

Word by Word

यस्यof whom/whose

चand

अर्थwealth; purpose; meaning

अर्थार्थम्for the sake of wealth (alone)

एवonly; indeed

अर्थःwealth

सःhe

चand

नnot

अर्थस्यof wealth

कोविदःknower; expert

रक्षेतwould/should protect; protects (in sense)

भूतकोऽरण्येin the forest called Bhūtako

यथाas; just as

गाःcows

ताडुगेवlike a herdsman/servant (tāḍuka) indeed

सःhe

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

artha (wealth)

araṇya (forest)

gāḥ (cows/cattle)

cowherd/servant (implied by the simile)

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?

Wealth is not truly ‘owned’ when it is hoarded as an end in itself; it gains meaning through dharmic use—especially generosity and support of worthy aims. Otherwise, the possessor is only a temporary guardian, like a paid cowherd protecting another’s cattle.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana delivers a moral observation within the Vana Parva discourse: he critiques mere accumulation and frames the hoarder as a caretaker rather than a true knower of artha, using the vivid image of guarding cows in a forest.