Shloka 283

अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal

Devanagari script

आगम्य मम पुत्रार्थे सर्वे मृत्युवशं गता: । अनेक देशोंके स्वामी महामनस्वी नरेश मेरे पुत्रकी सहायताके लिये आकर सब-के-सब मृत्युके अधीन हो गये

Transliteration

āgamya mama putrārthe sarve mṛtyuvaśaṃ gatāḥ | aneka-deśānāṃ svāmī mahāmanasvī nareśa mama putrasya sahāyatāyai āgatya sarve kevalaṃ mṛtyor adhīnā abhavan |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Um meines Sohnes willen kamen sie herbei, doch alle gerieten unter die Herrschaft des Todes. Großgesinnte Könige—Herren vieler Reiche—kamen, um meinen Sohn zu stützen; und dennoch wurde ein jeder von ihnen, ohne Ausnahme, der Sterblichkeit unterworfen.“

Word by Word

आगम्यhaving come

ममof me / my

पुत्रार्थेfor (the sake of) my son

सर्वेall

मृत्युवशंunder the control of death

गताःwent / have gone

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

mama putra (the speaker’s son, context-dependent)

nareśāḥ (kings)

mṛtyu (Death, personified principle)

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?

Even the greatest rulers, despite power and noble intent, cannot escape mortality; attachment to outcomes—such as fighting for a loved one’s cause—still ends under the universal law of death, urging humility and discernment in dharmic action.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reflects that many mighty kings from various regions came to aid the speaker’s son, but all of them ultimately perished—emphasizing the vast human cost and the inevitability of death that overtakes all participants.