Shloka 10

Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)

Devanagari script

यस्य प्रभावान्न मया सभामध्ये धनुष्मत: । नीता लोकममुं सर्वे धार्तराष्ट्रा: ससौबला:,“जिस धरनुर्धर वीरके प्रभावसे प्रभावित होकर मैंने सभामें शकुनिसहित समस्त धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंको तुरंत ही यमलोक नहीं भेज दिया

Transliteration

yasya prabhāvān na mayā sabhāmadhye dhanuṣmataḥ | nītā lokam amuṁ sarve dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ sasau-balāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: „Von der Macht jenes bogenführenden Helden überwältigt, sandte ich nicht—mitten in der königlichen Versammlung—alle Söhne Dhṛtarāṣṭras samt Śakuni sogleich in jene andere Welt (Yamas Reich).“

Word by Word

यस्यof whom/whose

प्रभावात्from (his) might/influence

नnot

मयाby me

सभाin the assembly

मध्येin the midst

धनुष्मतःof the bowman/archer

नीताled/sent

लोकम्to the world/realm

अमुम्that (yonder)

सर्वेall

धार्तराष्ट्राःthe sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Kauravas)

सtogether with

सौबलाःthe Saubalas (with Śakuni and his party)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons (Kauravas)

Śakuni (Saubala)

Sabhā (royal assembly)

Yamaloka (implied by 'that world')

Dhanuṣmān (the bow-bearing hero; unnamed in this pāda)

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?

The verse highlights the ethical tension between capability and restraint: even when one has the power to destroy wrongdoers instantly, the presence and influence of a formidable warrior (and the norms of the royal court) can check impulsive violence, pointing to the importance of self-control and context in kṣatriya conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator states that, in the royal assembly, he did not immediately consign all Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons—along with Śakuni—to death (the ‘other world’), because he was overawed or restrained by the power of a certain bow-wielding hero present in that setting.