Shloka 6

Draupadī’s Identification of the Pāṇḍavas and the Onset of the Chariot Engagement (द्रौपदी-पाण्डव-परिचयः)

Devanagari script

प्रत्यक्ष तव गान्धारे ससैन्यस्य विशाम्पते

Transliteration

pratyakṣaṃ tava gāndhāre sasainyasya viśāmpate

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O König der Menschen, o Gāndhāra: Vor deinen eigenen Augen ist dies unmittelbar bezeugt worden—zusammen mit dem Heer.“

Word by Word

• pratyakṣam: directly, before (one's eyes)
• pratyakṣam: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: pratyakṣa
• Form: Avyaya (indeclinable adverb)

• tava: of you, your
• tava: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: tvad
• Form: Genitive, singular

• gāndhāre: in/at Gāndhāra
• gāndhāre: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: gāndhāra
• Form: Locative, singular, masculine

• sa-sainyasya: of (one) with an army; accompanied by troops
• sa-sainyasya: Sambandha
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sa-sainya
• Form: Genitive, singular, masculine/neuter (agreeing with an implied head-noun such as 'tasya/asya')

• viśāmpate: O lord of the people (king)
• viśāmpate: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: viśāmpati
• Form: Vocative, singular, masculine

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Gāndhāra
• viśāmpati (king/lord of the people)
• sainya (army)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses pratyakṣa—direct witnessing—as a basis for responsibility: a ruler cannot plead ignorance when events occur openly before him, especially in matters involving force and armed power.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses a king (styled ‘lord of the people’) and invokes Gāndhāra, stating that something has occurred in plain sight, in the presence of the addressee, and in connection with an army—framing the next events as publicly evident rather than hearsay.