Shloka 3

Somaka–Jantu Ākhyāna: Desire-Driven Sacrifice and Shared Karmic Consequence

Devanagari script

हा हता: स्मेति वाशन्त्यस्तीव्रशोकसमाहता: । रुदन्त्य: करुणं वापि गृहीत्वा दक्षिणे करे

Transliteration

hā hatāḥ smeti vāśantyastīvrāśokasamāhatāḥ | rudantyaḥ karuṇaṃ vāpi gṛhītvā dakṣiṇe kare

Translation

Lomaśa sagte: Von stechendem Kummer niedergeschlagen, schrien sie: „Weh, wir sind erschlagen!“ Und unter erbarmungswürdigem Weinen hielten sie (ihn/es) in der rechten Hand fest.

Word by Word

हाalas! (interjection)

हताःslain / struck down

स्मindeed; (emphatic particle)

इतिthus

वाशन्तिthey cry out / wail

अतीव्रby very intense (—)

शोकby grief

समाहताःstruck/overwhelmed

रुदन्त्यःweeping (women)

करुणम्piteously

वाor

अपिalso / even

गृहीत्वाhaving taken / seizing

दक्षिणेin the right (—)

करेin (the) hand

Speaker

लोगमश उवाच

Characters & Entities

Lomaśa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical reality that violence produces enduring sorrow for the living; it invites compassion and reflection on the human cost of conflict rather than triumphalism.

What is happening in the narrative?

Lomaśa describes a scene of intense mourning: women, overwhelmed by grief, cry out that they are ruined and weep piteously while clutching something/someone in the right hand, emphasizing the immediacy of bereavement.