Shloka 6

Devanagari script

शोचन्तस्तस्य पूर्वोक्तान्‌ भाषितांश्वासकृत्‌ पुन: । तं बाल॑ भूतले क्षिप्य प्रतिगन्तुं न शकनुयु:,वे उसकी पहलेकी बातोंको बारंबार याद करके शोकमग्न हो जाते थे; इसलिये उसे श्मशानभूमिमें डालकर लौट जानेमें असमर्थ हो रहे थे

Transliteration

śocantastasya pūrvoktān bhāṣitān śvāsakṛt punaḥ | taṃ bālaṃ bhūtale kṣipya pratigantuṃ na śaknu yuḥ ||

Translation

Klagend riefen sie sich immer wieder die Worte ins Gedächtnis, die das Kind einst gesprochen hatte, und der Atem stockte ihnen vor Schmerz. Darum vermochten sie, selbst nachdem sie den Knaben am Verbrennungsplatz auf die Erde gelegt hatten, nicht umzukehren und fortzugehen — festgehalten von Mitgefühl und Erinnerung.

Word by Word

शोचन्तःgrieving, lamenting

तस्यof him

पूर्वोक्तान्previously spoken

भाषितान्utterances, words spoken

श्वासकृत्the one who caused sighs (sigh-maker)

पुनःagain, repeatedly

तम्him

बालम्the boy/child

भूतलेon the ground

क्षिप्यhaving thrown/cast

प्रतिगन्तुम्to return, to go back

नnot

शकनुयुःthey were able/could

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīṣma

bāla (a child)

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 how remembrance and compassion can overpower mere ritual completion: grief makes people linger, unable to detach even after performing the outward act. It implicitly points to the ethical depth of human bonds and the difficulty of letting go.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma describes mourners who, repeatedly recalling the child’s earlier words, become overwhelmed with sorrow. Even after placing the child down on the ground (understood in context as the cremation-ground setting), they cannot bring themselves to return home.