Shloka 3

Virāṭa’s Mobilization to Recover the Cattle (गोधनरक्षणार्थ विराटस्य सैन्यसमायोजनम्)

Devanagari script

बाधितो बन्धुभि: सार्ध बलादू बलवता विभो | स कर्णमभ्युदीक्ष्याथ दुर्योधनमभाषत,उसने कर्णकी ओर देखकर दुर्योधनसे कहा--'प्रभो! पहले मत्स्य तथा शाल्वदेशके सैनिकोंने अनेक बार चढ़ाई करके हमें कष्ट दिया है। मत्स्यराजके सेनापति महाबली सूतपुत्र कीचकने अपने बन्धुओंके साथ बार-बार आक्रमण करके मुझे बलपूर्वक सताया है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | bādhito bandhubhiḥ sārdhaṃ balād balavatā vibho | sa karṇam abhyudīkṣyātha duryodhanam abhāṣata ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Von seinen Verwandten begleitet bedrängt und von einem mächtigen Gegner mit Gewalt niedergehalten, blickte er daraufhin zu Karṇa und wandte sich an Duryodhana. Es war eine Klage über wiederholte Übergriffe—ein Ruf nach Rat und Erwiderung—und sie zeichnete die sittliche Spannung zwischen dem Erdulden von Unrecht und dem Antworten mit Gewalt.

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'bādhitaḥ': 'afflicted, harassed, troubled', 'bandhubhiḥ sārdham': 'together with (his) relatives/kinsmen', 'balāt': 'by force, forcibly', 'balavatā': 'by/with a powerful (person), by a stronger one', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

• O lord (vocative of address)', 'saḥ': 'he', 'karṇam': 'Karṇa (accusative)', 'abhyudīkṣya': 'having looked toward, having glanced at', 'atha': 'then, thereafter', 'duryodhanam': 'Duryodhana (accusative)', 'abhāṣata': 'spoke, addressed'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Karṇa
• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how political and personal decisions in the epic often arise from perceived injury and power imbalance: a leader, feeling forcibly wronged along with his kin, turns to trusted allies for counsel—raising the ethical question of whether to endure, negotiate, or retaliate.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker (within Vaiśampāyana’s narration) reports that someone, oppressed together with his relatives by a stronger force, looks toward Karṇa and then speaks to Duryodhana—setting up a strategic discussion in response to repeated harassment.