Shloka 4

Devanagari script

सुखा: स हि राजर्षिरसुखी तद्‌ वनं महत्‌ | किमवस्थ: समासाद्य प्रज्ञाचक्षुर्हतात्मज:,“जिनके सारे पुत्र मारे गये, वे प्रज्ञाचक्षु राजर्षि धृतराष्ट्र सुख भोगनेके योग्य होकर भी उस विशाल वनमें जाकर किस अवस्थामें दुःखके दिन बिताते होंगे?

Transliteration

sukhāḥ sa hi rājarṣir asukhī tad vanaṁ mahat | kim-avasthaḥ samāsādya prajñā-cakṣur hata-ātmajaḥ |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Jener königliche Weise—obwohl des Wohllebens würdig—wurde freudlos. Nachdem er alle seine Söhne verloren hatte und dessen ‘Augen’ Weisheit waren: In welchem Zustand begab sich Dhṛtarāṣṭra in jenen weiten Wald, und wie verbrachte er dort seine Tage im Kummer?“

Word by Word

सुखाःhappy / fit for enjoyment

सःhe

हिindeed

राजर्षिःroyal sage

असुखीunhappy

तत्that

वनम्forest

महत्great, vast

किम्what (which)

अवस्थःin what condition/state

समासाद्यhaving reached/attained

प्रज्ञाचक्षुःone whose eyes are wisdom (the wise-eyed)

हतात्मजःwhose sons are slain

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

forest (vana)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even those surrounded by royal comforts are not protected from sorrow; when attachment (especially to lineage and power) collapses, the mind is driven toward renunciation. The verse highlights impermanence and the ethical weight of the war’s aftermath, pointing to inner vision (prajñā) as the only true refuge amid loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes Dhṛtarāṣṭra after the Kurukṣetra catastrophe: though a royal sage with the capacity for comfort, he is rendered joyless by the death of his sons and goes to the great forest. The line frames a reflective question about the condition in which he lived there, setting the tone for the Ashramavāsika account of withdrawal to the forest.