Shloka 188
Ādi-parva Adhyāya 3 — Janamejaya’s Rite, Dhaumya’s Parīkṣā, and Uttanka’s Kuṇḍala Quest (सर्पसत्रप्रस्तावना–गुरुपरीक्षा–उत्तङ्कोपाख्यान)
तदैव हि स राजेन्द्रो दुःखशोकाप्लुतो5 भवत् | यदैव वृत्तं पितरमुत्तड़कादशूणोत् तदा,उत्तंकके मुखसे जिस समय उन्होंने पिताके मरनेकी बात सुनी, उसी समय वे महाराज दुःख और शोकमें डूब गये
tadaiva hi sa rājendro duḥkhaśokāpluto 'bhavat | yadaiva vṛttaṃ pitaram uttadakād aśṛṇot tadā ||
في تلك اللحظة بعينها غمر الحزنُ والأسى الملكَ، فانحدر إلى لوعةٍ شديدة؛ إذ ما إن سمع من أُتَّدَكَ خبر وفاة أبيه حتى صُعِق قلبه بفاجعة الفقد. ويُبرز هذا المقطع قوةَ الرابطة البنوية في طبيعتها، وثِقَلَ الواجب الأخلاقي في سماع الحقيقة المؤلمة واحتمالها.
उत्तड़क उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of grief upon hearing of a parent’s death and points to the ethical seriousness of conveying and receiving painful truth; it frames sorrow as a natural human response within a dharma-centered narrative rather than as a moral failing.
Uttadaka reports the event concerning the father’s death, and the king immediately becomes overwhelmed—submerged in duḥkha (pain) and śoka (grief)—upon hearing the news.