Shloka 19

Dyūta-kathā-praśnaḥ — Inquiry into the Dice-Game Calamity

Devanagari script

गते पितामहे राजा चिन्ताशोकसमन्वित: । निःश्वसन्नुष्णमसकृत्‌ तमेवार्थ विचिन्तयन्‌,अपने पितामह व्यासजीके चले जानेपर चिन्ता और शोकसे युक्त राजा युधिष्छिर बारंबार गरम साँसें लेते हुए उसी बातका चिन्तन करते रहे। अहो! दैवका विधान पुरुषार्थसे किस प्रकार टाला जा सकता है? महर्षिने जो कुछ कहा है, वह निश्चय ही होगा

Transliteration

gate pitāmahe rājā cintāśokasamanvitaḥ | niḥśvasann uṣṇam asakṛt tam evārthaṁ vicintayan ||

Translation

Als der ehrwürdige Ahn fortgegangen war, wurde König Yudhiṣṭhira von Sorge und Kummer überwältigt; immer wieder stieß er heiße Seufzer aus und wälzte dieselbe Sache unablässig im Geist. Er sann darüber nach, wie der Spruch des Schicksals durch menschliches Bemühen abzuwenden sei, und erkannte: Was der große Seher verkündet hat, wird gewiss eintreffen.

Word by Word

• {'gate': 'having gone

• departed', 'pitāmahe': 'when the grandsire (elder) had gone

• locative absolute sense', 'rājā': 'the king', 'cintā-śoka-samanvitaḥ': 'endowed with anxiety and sorrow

• afflicted by worry and grief', 'niḥśvasan': 'sighing

• breathing out', 'uṣṇam': 'hot

• heated (breath/sigh)', 'asakṛt': 'again and again

• repeatedly', 'tam eva': 'that very (same) one', 'arthaṁ': 'matter

• purpose', 'vicintayan': 'reflecting upon

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitāmaha (grandsire/elder)
• Vyāsa (implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tension between daiva (fate) and puruṣārtha (human effort): even a righteous king, struck by sorrow, confronts the question of whether destiny can be resisted, and recognizes the inevitability of a seer’s truthful pronouncement.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the departure of the revered elder (understood in context as Vyāsa), Yudhiṣṭhira is left anxious and grieving; he repeatedly sighs and keeps contemplating the same troubling issue, anticipating that the sage’s words will inevitably be fulfilled.