Shloka 14

Devanagari script

मित्राणि द्रष्टकामेन पुत्राणां च बलाबलम्‌ | अशोच्या: कुरवो राजन्‌ येषां त्वमनुशासिता

Transliteration

mitrāṇi draṣṭakāmena putrāṇāṃ ca balābalam | aśocyāḥ kuravo rājan yeṣāṃ tvam anuśāsitā

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „O König, die Kuruprinzen sind nicht zu beweinen — denn du bist es, der sie regiert und geleitet hat. Ob man die Treue der Freunde sehen will oder die Stärke und Schwäche der eigenen Söhne erprobt: Unter der Zucht eines Herrschers folgt ihr Geschick der Ordnung, die du gesetzt hast; Kummer ist fehl am Platz, wo Verantwortung und Unterweisung bereits ausgeübt wurden.“

Word by Word

मित्राणिfriends

द्रष्टकामेनby one wishing to see (them)

पुत्राणाम्of (your) sons

चand

बलाबलम्strength and weakness

अशोच्याःnot to be lamented (are)

कुरवःthe Kurus

राजन्O king

येषाम्of whom

त्वम्you

अनुशासिताthe one who has instructed/ruled (them)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Kurus

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?

The verse frames grief through the lens of dharma and kingship: when a ruler has already instructed and governed his people, their outcomes are tied to that governance; lamentation should give way to accountability, discernment, and principled action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a king and comments on the Kurus, suggesting they are ‘not to be lamented for’ because they have been under the king’s discipline; he links the situation to assessing allies and evaluating the true strength or weakness of one’s sons.