Shloka 11

Dambhodbhava, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and the Counsel to Abandon Hubris

Udyoga-parva 94

Devanagari script

सेयमापन्महाघोरा कुरुष्वेव समुत्थिता । उपेक्ष्यमाणा कौरव्य पृथिवीं घातयिष्यति

Transliteration

seyam āpanna-mahāghorā kuruṣv eva samutthitā | upekṣyamāṇā kauravya pṛthivīṃ ghātayiṣyati, kuruśreṣṭha |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Dieses schreckliche Unheil ist unter den Kurus selbst entstanden. Wird es übergangen, o Sohn der Kuru-Linie—o Bester der Kurus—so wird es Verderben über die ganze Erde bringen.“

Word by Word

• सा: she/that (f.)
• सा: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• इयम्: this (f.)
• इयम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• आपत्: calamity, crisis
• आपत्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: आपद्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• महा-घोरा: very terrible
• महा-घोरा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महा + घोर
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• कुरुषु: among/in the Kurus
• कुरुषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• एव: indeed, just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• समुत्थिता: arisen, sprung up
• समुत्थिता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-उत्-स्था
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular, Past passive participle (kta)

• उपेक्ष्यमाणा: being neglected/overlooked
• उपेक्ष्यमाणा: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उप-ईक्ष्
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular, Present passive participle (śatṛ/śānac in passive sense)

• कौरव्य: O descendant of Kuru
• Type: Noun
• Root: कौरव्य
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पृथिवीम्: the earth
• पृथिवीम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• घातयिष्यति: will cause to be slain/destroy
• Type: Verb
• Root: घातय् (causative of हन्)
• Form: Simple future (luṭ), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• कुरु-श्रेष्ठ: O best of the Kurus
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुरु + श्रेष्ठ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Kuru
• Kaurava
• Pṛthivī (Earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A crisis born within one’s own community, if met with indifference, can expand into universal destruction; dharma requires timely recognition, responsibility, and corrective action rather than denial or neglect.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana warns a Kuru prince that a terrifying danger has arisen within the Kuru/Kaurava sphere itself, and that ignoring it will lead to catastrophic, world-wide ruin—foreshadowing the escalating conflict and its consequences.