Shloka 45

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

Devanagari script

पुत्राश्न॒ मे विनिहता: पौत्राश्नैव महाबला:

Transliteration

putrāś ca me vinihatāḥ pautrāś caiva mahābalāḥ

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „Meine Söhne sind erschlagen, und auch meine Enkel—die von großer Kraft.“

Word by Word

• पुत्राः: sons
• पुत्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• मे: my / of me
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• विनिहताः: slain / killed
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-नि-हन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, क्त (past passive participle)

• पौत्राः: grandsons
• पौत्राः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पौत्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• एव: indeed / just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• महाबलाः: mighty/very strong
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाबल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

धघतयाट्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Kauravas)
• grandsons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Unchecked attachment to one’s own (putra-sneha) and failure to uphold dharma in governance culminate in collective ruin; grief here functions as the moral consequence of earlier complicity and partiality.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, receiving news of the war’s outcome, mourns that both his sons and his grandsons have been killed, acknowledging the near-total annihilation of his line.