Chapter 1 · Prathamo’dhyāyaḥ (First Chapter)
Verse 9
ततो मृगयाव्याजेन हृतस्वाम्यः स भूपतिः। एकाकी हयमारुह्य जगाम गहनं वनम् ॥ ९ ॥
tatō mṛgayāvyājēna hṛtasvāmyaḥ sa bhūpatiḥ | ēkākī hayamāruhya jagāma gahanaṁ vanam || 9 ||
Translation
Then, that king, whose sovereignty had been stolen, under the pretext of going hunting, mounted a horse and, alone, went into a dense forest.
Word by word
- tataḥ
- then
- mṛgayāvyājēna
- under the pretext of hunting
- hṛtasvāmyaḥ
- he whose sovereignty was stolen
- saḥ
- he
- bhūpatiḥ
- the king
- ēkākī
- alone
- hayam
- a horse
- āruhya
- having mounted
- jagāma
- went
- gahanaṁ
- dense
- vanam
- forest
Meaning
Stripped of everything, King Suratha is forced to abandon his kingdom. He leaves under a false pretext to avoid further confrontation or humiliation. The image of the king, once ruler of the entire earth, now riding alone (ēkākī) into a dense forest (gahanaṁ vanam) is a powerful symbol of his complete fall from grace and his entry into a life of exile and introspection.