Shloka 25

Gāndhārī’s Battlefield Survey: The Fallen and the Onset of Funeral Rites (शल्य-भगीरथ-भीष्म-द्रोणादि-दर्शनम्)

Devanagari script

धर्मेषु कुरव: क॑ नु परिप्रक्ष्यन्ति माधव । गते देवब्ते स्वर्ग देवकल्पे नरर्षभे,माधव! इन देवतुल्य नरश्रेष्ठ देवव्रतके स्वर्गलोकमें चले जानेपर अब कौरव किसके पास जाकर धर्मविषयक प्रश्न करेंगे

Transliteration

dharmeṣu kuravaḥ kaṃ nu paripṛcchanti mādhava | gate devavrte svargaṃ devakalpe nararṣabhe ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „O Mādhava, da Devavrata — Bhīṣma, der Stier unter den Menschen, gottgleich an Gestalt — in den Himmel eingegangen ist, zu wem werden die Kauravas nun gehen, um nach dem Dharma zu fragen?“

Word by Word

धर्मेषुin matters of dharma

कुरवःthe Kurus

कम्whom

नुindeed/now (emphatic particle)

परिप्रक्ष्यन्तिwill ask/inquire (fully)

माधवO Mādhava (Krishna)

गतेwhen (he) has gone

देवव्रतेin/when Devavrata (Bhīṣma)

स्वर्गम्to heaven

देवकल्पेin/when (he) god-like

नरर्षभेin/when the bull among men (best of men)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)

Kuravaḥ/Kauravas

Devavrata (Bhīṣma)

Svarga (heaven)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Dharma requires living exemplars and trusted teachers; when a great authority like Bhīṣma is gone, society feels the vacuum of moral guidance and must seek new, worthy sources of counsel.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Bhīṣma (Devavrata), revered as godlike and foremost among men, has departed to heaven, the speaker laments that the Kauravas no longer have their principal elder and dharma-knower to consult on questions of righteousness and duty.