Shloka 7

Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 178 — Royal Contestants Assemble; Cosmic Witnesses; The Bow Remains Unstrung

Devanagari script

मा तात तात तातेति ब्रूहोनं पितरं पितु: । रक्षसा भक्षितस्तात तव तातो वनान्तरे,“बेटा! ये तुम्हारे पिताके भी पिता हैं। तुम इन्हें 'तात तात!” कहकर न पुकारो। वत्स! तुम्हारे पिताको तो वनके भीतर राक्षस खा गया

Transliteration

mā tāta tāta tā teti brūhī naṁ pitaraṁ pituḥ | rakṣasā bhakṣitas tāta tava tāto vanāntare ||

Translation

قال الغندرفا: «لا تُنادِه مرارًا: “يا أبي، يا أبي”؛ فهو أبو أبيك. آهٍ أيها الطفل العزيز! لقد افترس راكشسا أباك في أعماق الغابة».

Word by Word

माdo not

तातdear son / child

तातdear son

तातेO dear one

इतिthus / saying

ब्रूहिsay / address

एनम्him / this person

पितरम्father

पितुःof (your) father

रक्षसाby a rākṣasa / demon

भक्षितःeaten / devoured

तातdear son

तवyour

तातःfather (lit. dear one; here: father)

वनान्तरेin the interior of the forest

Speaker

गन्धर्व उवाच

Characters & Entities

ग

गन्धर्व (Gandharva)

र

राक्षस (Rākṣasa)

प

पितामह (father’s father / grandfather, implied by 'pitaram pituḥ')

व

वन (forest)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights propriety in forms of address grounded in family relations (recognizing the grandfather as ‘father’s father’) and the ethical weight of truthful speech even when conveying painful news.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Gandharva corrects a child’s mode of address toward an elder (the grandfather) and then reveals a tragic event: the child’s father has been killed and eaten by a rākṣasa in the forest.