Shloka 10

धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)

Devanagari script

कथं त्वं पृथिवीपालांस्त्यक्त्वा तात समागतान्‌ | शेषे विनिहतो भूमौ प्राकृत: कुनूपो यथा,तात! तुम यहाँ पधारे हुए समस्त भूमिपालोंको छोड़कर किसी नीच और दुष्ट राजाके समान मारे जाकर पृथ्वीपर कैसे सो रहे हो?

Transliteration

kathaṁ tvaṁ pṛthivīpālāṁs tyaktvā tāta samāgatān | śeṣe vinihato bhūmau prākṛtaḥ kunūpo yathā ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „Mein Sohn, wie kommt es, dass du, die hier versammelten Könige der Erde verlassend, nun erschlagen am Boden liegst wie irgendein gewöhnlicher, verächtlicher Mensch? Wie konntest du so tief fallen?“

Word by Word

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्
• Form: Avyaya

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Gender: —, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular

• पृथिवीपालान्: earth-protectors, kings
• पृथिवीपालान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवीपाल
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Accusative, Number: Plural

• त्यक्त्वा: having abandoned
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज्
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा), Indeclinable verbal form

• तात: dear father / dear one
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Vocative, Number: Singular

• समागतान्: assembled, arrived
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समागत
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Accusative, Number: Plural (past passive participle used adjectivally)

• शेषे: you lie / you sleep
• Type: Verb
• Root: शी
• Form: Present, Parasmaipada, 2nd person, Singular

• विनिहतः: slain, struck down
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विनिहत
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular (past passive participle)

• भूमौ: on the ground / on the earth
• भूमौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमि
• Form: Gender: Feminine, Case: Locative, Number: Singular

• प्राकृतः: common, base, vulgar
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राकृत
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular

• कुनूपः: a low/wicked man (as a proper/common noun here)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुनूप
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular

• यथा: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा
• Form: Avyaya

• तात: dear one!
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Vocative, Number: Singular

Speaker

धघतयाट्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• tāta (addressed son, i.e., Duryodhana in context)
• pṛthivīpālāḥ (kings/rulers)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical contrast between royal duty and ignoble downfall: a king is expected to uphold honor, protect allies, and stand firm in responsibility; abandoning one’s role and ending in disgrace is portrayed as a moral and social collapse, intensified by a father’s grief and reproach.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses his son (contextually Duryodhana) after a disastrous turn in the war, lamenting that he lies struck down on the ground and questioning how he could have forsaken the gathered kings and come to such a humiliating state.