Shloka 18

अध्याय ९० — लोमशोपदेशः तथा तीर्थयात्रानिश्चयः

Lomaśa’s Counsel and the Resolve for Pilgrimage

Devanagari script

अपि चात्र महाराज स्वयं विश्वावसुर्जगौ । इमं श्लोक॑ तदा वीर प्रेक्ष्य दीक्षां महात्मन:,वीर महाराज! यहाँ महात्मा जमदग्निकी वह यज्ञदीक्षा देखकर स्वयं गन्धर्वराज विश्वावसुने इस श्लोकका गान किया था

Transliteration

api cātra mahārāja svayaṃ viśvāvasur jagau | imaṃ ślokaṃ tadā vīra prekṣya dīkṣāṃ mahātmanaḥ ||

Translation

又在此处，伟大的国王啊，勇士啊：当年甘达婆之王毗湿婆婆苏（Viśvāvasu）亲见那位大士的神圣受戒入坛（dīkṣā）之时，便亲自吟唱了这一偈颂。

Word by Word

अपिalso, even

चand

अत्रhere

महाराजO great king

स्वयम्himself

विश्वावसुःViśvāvasu (a Gandharva)

जगौsang

इमम्this

श्लोकम्verse

तदाthen

वीरO hero

प्रेक्ष्यhaving seen

दीक्षाम्consecration (initiation for sacrifice)

महात्मनःof the great-souled one

Speaker

धौम्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

ध

धौम्य (Dhaumya)

म

महाराज (the king addressed, i.e., Yudhiṣṭhira in context)

व

वीर (the hero addressed)

व

विश्वावसु (Viśvāvasu, Gandharva king)

ग

गन्धर्वराज (king of the Gandharvas)

म

महात्मा (the great-souled person undergoing dīkṣā; contextually Jamadagni is referenced in the accompanying Hindi gloss)

द

दीक्षा (dīkṣā, sacrificial consecration)

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 underscores the moral power of disciplined religious observance: true dīkṣā—self-restraint, purity, and commitment to sacred duty—naturally evokes reverence and inspires praise, even from exalted beings like Gandharvas.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhaumya addresses the king and recalls an earlier moment when the Gandharva king Viśvāvasu, after witnessing a great person’s sacrificial consecration (dīkṣā), sang a verse in admiration—introducing or framing a laudatory śloka connected with that event.