Shloka 4

Śānti-parva Adhyāya 44 — Post-War Reassignment of Residences and Restorative Consolation (शान्तिपर्व अध्याय ४४)

Devanagari script

अरण्ये दुःखवसतीर्मत्कृते भरतर्षभा: । भवद्धिरनुभूता हि यथा कुपुरुषैस्तथा,“भरतश्रेष्ठ वीरो! तुमने मेरे लिये वनमें रहकर जैसे कोई भाग्यहीन मनुष्य दुःख भोगता है, उसी प्रकार दुःख और वष्ट भोगे हैं

Transliteration

araṇye duḥkhavasatīr matkṛte bharatarṣabhāḥ | bhavadbhir anubhūtā hi yathā kupuruṣais tathā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Stiere unter den Bharatas! Um meinetwillen habt ihr im Wald in Leid gelebt; wahrlich, ihr habt Elend ertragen wie Menschen, die elend und vom Glück verlassen sind.“

Word by Word

अरण्येin the forest

दुःखवसतीःpainful dwellings / miserable residence(s)

मत्कृतेfor my sake

भरतर्षभाःO bulls among the Bharatas (O best of Bharatas)

भवद्भिःby you (all)

अनुभूताःwere experienced / endured

हिindeed / for

यथाas / just as

कुपुरुषैःby wretched men

तथाso / in that same way

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Bharatas (Kuru lineage addressed as bharatarṣabhāḥ)

Forest (araṇya)

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 moral responsibility: when others suffer ‘for my sake,’ the speaker recognizes a burden of accountability. It underscores the ethical weight of one’s actions and the duty to acknowledge and atone for harm endured by others on one’s account.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana reports a statement addressed to the ‘best of the Bharatas,’ recalling how they lived in the forest and endured severe hardship for the speaker’s sake—suffering comparable to that of wretched, ill-fated men.