Shloka 20

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

अभिमन्युं च यद्‌ बाल॑ं जात॑ सिंहमिवाद्रिषु

Transliteration

abhimanyuṃ ca yad bālaṃ jātaṃ siṃham ivādriṣu

Translation

«وكذلك أبهيمانيو—مع أنه لم يكن سوى غلام—وُلد بروحٍ وبأسٍ كأسدٍ بين الجبال.»

Word by Word

• अभिमन्युम्: Abhimanyu (as object)
• अभिमन्युम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभिमन्यु
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• यत्: whom/which
• यत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• बालम्: young, a boy
• बालम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• जातम्: born, arisen
• जातम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जात
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सिंहम्: lion
• सिंहम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सिंह
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अद्रिषु: on/in the mountains
• अद्रिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अद्रि
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Abhimanyu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that true valor and dharmic resolve are not measured merely by age; even one who is young can embody the lion-like qualities expected of a kṣatriya—courage, steadfastness, and readiness to uphold duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira speaks while recalling Abhimanyu, emphasizing that although he was young, he possessed extraordinary, lion-like prowess—an image that intensifies both admiration and the pathos of his loss in the aftermath of the war.