Shloka 17

Devanagari script

यद्येतदेवमज्ञास्यं वने वासो हि वो ध्रुवम्‌ | शतशड्जान्मृते पाण्डौ नागमिष्यं गजाह्नयम्‌,यदि मैं यह जानती कि नगरमें आनेपर तुम्हें निश्चय ही वनवासका कष्ट भोगना पड़ेगा तो महाराज पाण्डुके परलोकवासी हो जानेपर शतशंगपुरसे हस्तिनापुर नहीं आती

Transliteration

yady etad evam ajñāsyam vane vāso hi vo dhruvam | śataśaḍjān mṛte pāṇḍau nāgamiṣyaṃ gajāhnayam ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „Hätte ich gewusst, dass es so kommen würde—dass euer Kommen in die Stadt gewiss im Exil in den Wald enden müsste—so wäre ich nach dem Tod König Pāṇḍus nicht von Śataśṛṅga nach Gajāhvaya (Hastināpura) gekommen.“

Word by Word

यदिif

एतत्this

एवम्thus, in this way

अज्ञास्यम्not to be known / could not be known

वनेin the forest

वासःdwelling, residence

हिindeed, for

वःof you (pl.)

ध्रुवम्certain, inevitable

शतशःby hundreds, many times

अजात्from the unborn (Brahmā) / from Ajā (context-dependent)

मृतेwhen (he) was dead

पाण्डौin/when Pāṇḍu (was dead)

नnot

आगमिष्यम्I would come

गजाह्नयम्Gajāhvaya (Hastināpura)

Speaker

वैशमग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Pāṇḍu

Gajāhvaya (Hastināpura)

Śataśṛṅga

the Pāṇḍavas (implied by vaḥ)

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 highlights the ethical weight of foresight and responsibility: when one realizes that an action (bringing someone into courtly life) will lead to suffering (certain forest exile), regret arises, underscoring how political decisions and family moves can have irreversible dharmic consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker reflects retrospectively: after Pāṇḍu’s death, they came from Śataśṛṅga to Hastināpura (Gajāhvaya). Seeing that this move ultimately results in the Pāṇḍavas’ inevitable forest exile, the speaker states that, had this outcome been known, they would not have come to the city.