Mahabharata 3.299.69 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 299, Shloka 69

Ajñātavāsa-saṅkalpaḥ — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Resolve and Dhaumya’s Exempla on Concealment

Devanagari script

फलाहारो<स्मि निष्क्रान्तस्त्वया सह सुमध्यमे । ततः पाटयत: काष्ठं शिरसो मे रुजाभवत्‌

Transliteration

phalāhāro ’smi niṣkrāntas tvayā saha sumadhyame | tataḥ pāṭayataḥ kāṣṭhaṁ śiraso me rujābhavat |

Translation

«يا رشيقة الخصر، لقد خرجتُ من الدار معكِ لنجمع الثمار. ثم لما كنتُ أشقّ الحطب، نهض في رأسي ألمٌ شديد.»

Word by Word

• फलाहारः: one who lives on fruits (fruit-eater)
• फलाहारः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: फलाहार
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अस्मि: I am
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (to be)
• Form: Present, 1st, Singular

• निष्क्रान्तः: gone out, having set out
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निष्क्रान्त (नि√क्रम्)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वया: with you / by you
• त्वया: Saha (Instrumental of accompaniment)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: त्वद्
• Form: —, Instrumental, Singular

• सह: together with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सह

• सुमध्यमे: O fair-waisted one
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुमध्यमा
• Form: Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• ततः: then, thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

• पाटयतः: while (I) was splitting / of (me) splitting
• पाटयतः: Karta (genitive absolute / genitive of the agent)
• Type: Verb
• Root: पाटयत् (पाटय् < √पट्/√पट् caus. ‘to split’)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• काष्ठम्: wood, a log
• काष्ठम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काष्ठ
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शिरसः: of (my) head / in the head
• शिरसः: Adhikarana (locus/affected part, expressed via genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शिरस्
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• मे: my / to me
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• रुजा: with pain; by pain
• रुजा: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: रुज्/रुजा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Singular

• अभवत्: arose / happened / became
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (to be, to become)
• Form: Imperfect (Past), 3rd, Singular

Speaker

यम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yama
• sumadhyame (addressed woman, i.e., Sāvitrī in context)
• kāṣṭha (wood/log)
• śiras (head)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how an unexpected physical crisis can become the immediate occasion for a dharmic test: when suffering and death draw near, the ethical qualities of steadiness, truthfulness, and right conduct become decisive.

What is happening in the narrative?

A man recounts that he went out with the woman to gather fruits, and while splitting wood he was struck by intense head pain—an ominous symptom that sets in motion the ensuing encounter with death (Yama) and the dharma-centered dialogue that follows.