Shloka 4

Devanagari script

वैशम्पायन उवाच न च किंचिदथोचुस्तं द्विया सन्ना युधिष्ठिरम्‌ । मनोभिरेव कल्याण दध्युस्ते तस्थ धीमत:

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | na ca kiñcid athocuḥ taṃ dvijāḥ sannā yudhiṣṭhiram | manobhir eva kalyāṇaṃ dadhyuḥ te tasthuḥ dhīmataḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Als Yudhiṣṭhira so geredet hatte, vermochten die „zweimal Geborenen“, von Scham überwältigt, ihm kein einziges Wort zu erwidern. Dort stehend konnten sie nur in ihrem Herzen dem weisen Yudhiṣṭhira Wohlergehen wünschen — ein inneres Ja zur Dharma, wo die Sprache versagte.

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'na': 'not', 'ca': 'and', 'kiñcit': 'anything

• even the least thing', 'atha': 'then

• thereupon', 'ūcuḥ (ocuḥ)': 'they said

• they spoke', 'tam': 'to him

• that (person)', 'dvijāḥ': 'the twice-born (Brahmins/learned elders)', 'sannāḥ': 'stupefied

• benumbed (here: from shame)', 'yudhiṣṭhiram': 'Yudhiṣṭhira', 'manobhiḥ eva': 'only with their minds

• inwardly', 'kalyāṇam': 'welfare

• well-being', 'dadhyuḥ': 'they contemplated

• they wished', 'te': 'they', 'tasthuḥ': 'they stood

• remained', 'dhīmataḥ': 'of the wise one

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Dvijas (twice-born elders/Brahmins)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

When confronted by a righteous question, those who lack a defensible moral position may fall silent; yet even then, the mind can still recognize dharma and wish well to the truly wise. The verse highlights the ethical weight of Yudhiṣṭhira’s integrity and the power of conscience when speech cannot justify wrongdoing.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Yudhiṣṭhira asks/speaks in a manner that exposes the situation’s moral tension, the assembled twice-born elders (dvijas) are overcome with shame and cannot answer him. They remain standing, and inwardly they think of his welfare—an implicit acknowledgment of his wisdom and righteousness.