Shloka 11

सुभद्राहरणम्

Subhadrā-haraṇa: Arjuna’s Taking of Subhadrā and the Dvārakā Assembly’s Response

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच रोरूयमाणस्याभ्याशे भृशं विप्रस्य पाण्डव: । तानि वाक्यानि शुश्राव कुन्तीपुत्रो धनंजय:

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca rorūyamāṇasyābhyāśe bhṛśaṁ viprasya pāṇḍavaḥ | tāni vākyāni śuśrāva kuntīputro dhanañjayaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „In der Nähe eines Brahmanen, der bitterlich weinte, vernahm der Pāṇḍava—Dhanañjaya (Arjuna), Kuntīs Sohn—jene Worte.“

Word by Word

वैशम्पायनःVaiśampāyana

उवाचsaid

रोरूयमाणस्यof (one) crying, lamenting

अभ्याशेnear, in the vicinity

भृशम्greatly, intensely

विप्रस्यof the brāhmaṇa

पाण्डवःthe Pāṇḍava

तानिthose

वाक्यानिwords, statements

शुश्रावheard

कुन्तीपुत्रःKuntī's son

धनंजयःDhanañjaya (Arjuna)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāṇḍava

Kuntī

Dhanañjaya (Arjuna)

Vipra (a Brahmin)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma in action: a righteous person, especially a kṣatriya like Arjuna, should be attentive to the suffering of others and ready to respond when a distressed, respectable petitioner (here, a Brahmin) seeks help.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator states that Arjuna (Dhanañjaya), near a Brahmin who is crying intensely, hears the Brahmin’s words—setting up the next events in which the cause of the Brahmin’s grief and Arjuna’s response will unfold.