Shloka 19

धृतराष्ट्रस्य उपालम्भः तथा पाण्डव-समाश्वासनम् | Dhṛtarāṣṭra Reproved and the Pāṇḍavas Consoled

Devanagari script

ततः पपात मेदिन्यां तथैव रुधिरोक्षित: । प्रपुष्पिताग्रशिखर: पारिजात इव द्रुम:,वे उसी अवस्थामें खूनसे भींगकर पृथ्वीपर गिर पड़े, मानो ऊपरकी डालीपर खिले हुए लाल फूलोंसे सुशोभित पारिजातका वृक्ष धराशायी हो गया हो

Transliteration

tataḥ papāta medinyāṃ tathaiva rudhirokṣitaḥ | prapuṣpitāgraśikharaḥ pārijāta iva drumaḥ ||

Translation

Dann stürzte er, vom Blut getränkt, zu Boden—wie ein gefällter Pārijāta-Baum, dessen höchste Krone noch immer von Blüten geschmückt ist. Das Bild betont die tragische Vergeudung von Leben nach dem Krieg: Selbst das Edle und Glänzende kann gefällt werden und hinterlässt nur eine schmerzliche Schönheit inmitten der Verwüstung.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

पपातfell

मेदिन्याम्on the earth/ground

तथाthus, in that manner

एवindeed, just

रुधिरwith blood

उक्षितःsprinkled/drenched

प्रपुष्पितfully blossomed

अग्रat the tip/top

शिखरःpeak, top

पारिजातःthe pārijāta tree

इवlike, as if

द्रुमःtree

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

pṛthivī/medinī (earth)

pārijāta (celestial tree)

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 fragility of embodied life and the sorrowful cost of violence: even a figure compared to a splendid, blossoming tree can be suddenly brought down. It invites reflection on the ethical devastation of war and the impermanence of worldly glory.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath being narrated by Vaiśaṃpāyana, a blood-soaked warrior collapses onto the earth. The fall is poetically likened to a blossoming pārijāta tree whose crown is beautiful yet is felled and lies on the ground.