Shloka 20
वालि–मायावी–बिलप्रवेशः
Vali’s Pursuit of Mayavi and the Cave Episode
अहं त्ववगतो बुद्ध्या चिह्नैस्तैर्भ्रातरं हतम्।पिधाय च बिलद्वारं शिलया गिरिमात्रया4.9.19।।शोकार्तश्चोदकं कृत्वा किष्किन्धामागतस्सखे।गूहमानस्य मे तत्त्वं यत्नतो मन्त्रिभिश्श्रुतम्4.9.20।।
ahaṃ tv avagato buddhyā cihnais tair bhrātaraṃ hatam | pidhāya ca biladvāraṃ śilayā girimātrayā || 4.9.19 ||
śokārtaś codakaṃ kṛtvā kiṣkindhām āgataḥ sakhe | gūhamānasya me tattvaṃ yatnato mantribhiḥ śrutam || 4.9.20 ||
朋友啊，我凭这些征兆断定兄长已被杀。我以如山巨石封住洞口；悲痛之中，我行了为亡者献水的仪式，返回基什金达。虽竭力隐瞒真相，群臣仍以谨慎努力探知了实情。
'O friend! by those signs I understood that my brother was killed and concluding that way I blocked the entrance of the cave with a rock of the size of a mountain and offered oblations to my brother and came to Kishkinda. I intended to hide the fact of Vali's death. But the ministers came to know the truth with their efforts.
FAQs
Dharma requires both rite and truth: Sugrīva performs the proper funerary offering, yet the narrative also stresses satya—truth surfaces despite attempts to conceal it.
Sugrīva infers Vāli’s death from signs, seals the cave, performs rites, returns to Kiṣkindhā, and tries to hide the matter; ministers uncover the reality.
A sense of ritual responsibility (śrāddha-like duty) alongside political caution; the ministers’ diligence also highlights commitment to truth.