Shloka 4

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 30: Sañjaya’s Departure and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Commission of Greetings

Devanagari script

गावल्गणे कुरून्‌ गत्वा धृतराष्ट्रं महाबलम्‌ | अभिवाद्योपसंगृहा[ ततः पृच्छेरनामयम्‌,संजय! तुम कुरुदेशमें जाकर मेरी ओरसे महाबली धूृतराष्ट्रको प्रणाम करके उनके दोनों पैर पकड़ लेना और उनसे स्वास्थ्यका समाचार पूछना

Transliteration

gāvalgaṇe kurūn gatvā dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ mahābalam | abhivādyopasaṅgṛhya tataḥ pṛccher anāmayam, saṃjaya ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira sprach: „O Gāvalgaṇa (Sañjaya), geh in das Land der Kurus. Wenn du dich dem mächtigen Dhṛtarāṣṭra genähert hast, erweise ihm ehrerbietigen Gruß, umfasse in Demut seine beiden Füße und erkundige dich dann nach seinem Wohlergehen. Durch dich soll ihm meine Verehrung überbracht werden.“

Word by Word

गावल्गणेO Gāvalgaṇa (Sañjaya)

कुरून्the Kurus / Kuru-land (people/realm)

गत्वाhaving gone

धृतराष्ट्रम्Dhṛtarāṣṭra

महाबलम्mighty/very powerful

अभिवाद्यhaving saluted

उपसंगृह्यhaving clasped/held (in reverence)

ततःthen/thereafter

पृच्छेःyou should ask

अनामयम्well-being/health (freedom from illness)

संजयO Sañjaya

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Sañjaya (Gāvalgaṇa)

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Kuru country (Kurudeśa)

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?

Even amid looming conflict, dharma requires courtesy, humility, and concern for an elder’s welfare. Yudhiṣṭhira models ethical diplomacy: respectful address, physical gesture of reverence, and a humane inquiry before any political business.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira instructs Sañjaya (addressed as Gāvalgaṇa) to go to the Kuru court, respectfully greet King Dhṛtarāṣṭra—symbolically by clasping his feet—and ask about his health, conveying the Pāṇḍavas’ deference as part of the embassy context in Udyoga Parva.