Shloka 5

Janmaveśma-praveśa and Uttarā’s Śaraṇāgati

Entry into the Birth-Chamber and Uttarā’s Appeal

Devanagari script

कि नु वक्ष्यति धर्मात्मा धर्मराजो युधिष्ठिर: । भीमसेनार्जुनौ चापि माद्रवत्या: सुतौ च तौ

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca: ki nu vakṣyati dharmātmā dharmarājo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | bhīmasenārjunau cāpi mādravatyāḥ sutau ca tau ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Was wird der rechtschaffene König Yudhiṣṭhira, standhaft im Dharma, nun sagen? Und was werden Bhīmasena und Arjuna sagen, ebenso jene beiden Söhne Mādrīs?“

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'ki nu': 'what indeed?

• how possibly?', 'vakṣyati': 'will say

• will speak', 'dharmātmā': 'one whose very nature is dharma

• righteous-souled', 'dharmarājaḥ': 'king of dharma

• epithet of Yudhiṣṭhira', 'yudhiṣṭhiraḥ': 'Yudhiṣṭhira (eldest Pāṇḍava)', 'bhīmasenaḥ': 'Bhīma (Pāṇḍava brother)', 'arjunaḥ': 'Arjuna (Pāṇḍava brother)', 'cāpi': 'and also', 'mādravatyāḥ sutau': 'the two sons of Mādrī (Nakula and Sahadeva)', 'tau': 'those two'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Bhīmasena (Bhīma)
• Arjuna
• Mādrī
• Nakula
• Sahadeva

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharma as an inner disposition: Yudhiṣṭhira is identified not merely as a ruler but as “dharmātmā” and “dharmarāja,” implying that in crisis the ethical question is how a dharma-grounded person will respond—through restraint, responsibility, and truthfulness rather than impulsive retaliation.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator anticipates the reactions of the Pāṇḍava brothers—especially Yudhiṣṭhira, Bhīma, Arjuna, and the twin sons of Mādrī—at a moment of grave news and emotional upheaval, setting up their impending response within the Ashvamedhika Parva’s post-war context.