Shloka 11

एकचक्रानिवासे ब्राह्मणगृहदुःखश्रवणम् | Hearing the Brāhmaṇa Household’s Distress at Ekacakrā

Devanagari script

पितेव हि नृपो5स्माकमभूच्छांतनव: पुरा । विचित्रवीर्यो राजर्षि: पाण्डुश्न॒ कुरुनन्दन:,“पहले शंतनुकुमार राजर्षि विचित्रवीर्य तथा कुरुकुलको आनन्द देनेवाले महाराज पाण्डु हमारे राजा थे। केवल राजा ही नहीं, वे पिताके समान हमारा पालन-पोषण करते थे

Transliteration

piteva hi nṛpo ’smākam abhūc chāṃtanavaḥ purā | vicitravīryo rājarṣiḥ pāṇḍuś ca kurunandanaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „In früheren Zeiten war uns der König aus dem Geschlecht der Śāṃtanavas wie ein Vater. Ebenso waren es der königliche Seher Vicitravīrya und Pāṇḍu, die Freude des Kuru-Stammes—unsere Könige, die nicht nur herrschten, sondern uns mit väterlicher Fürsorge behüteten und nährten.“

Word by Word

पिताfather

इवlike/as

हिindeed/for

नृपःking

अस्माकम्of us/our

अभूत्was/became

शान्तनवःson of Śantanu (Bhīṣma)

पुराformerly/once

विचित्रवीर्यःVichitravīrya

राजर्षिःroyal sage

पाण्डुःPāṇḍu

कुरुनन्दनःdelighter of the Kurus

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Śāṃtanava (Śantanu’s line; epithet)

Vicitravīrya

Pāṇḍu

Kuru lineage

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents an ethical ideal of kingship: a ruler should be more than an administrator or conqueror—he should protect and nurture his people with the care of a father, embodying dharma through compassionate guardianship.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recalls earlier Kuru rulers—Śāṃtanava, Vicitravīrya, and Pāṇḍu—praising them as paternal figures to their subjects, setting a moral and emotional backdrop for the later decline into conflict.