Shloka 13

Devanagari script

एवं स राजा मत्स्यानां विराटो वाहिनीपति: । व्यादिदेशाथ तां क्षिप्रं वाहिनीं चतुरस्धिणीम्‌,इस प्रकार सेनाओंके स्वामी मत्स्यनरेश विराटने अपनी उस चतुरंगिणी सेनाको शीघ्र आदेश दिया, “जाओ, शीघ्र पता लगाओ। कुमार जीवित हैं या नहीं। एक हिजड़ा जिसका सारथि बनकर गया है, वह मेरी समझसे तो अब जीवित नहीं होगा”

Transliteration

evaṁ sa rājā matsyānāṁ virāṭo vāhinīpatiḥ | vyādideśātha tāṁ kṣipraṁ vāhinīṁ caturaṅgiṇīm |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: So erteilte König Virāṭa der Matsyas, Heerführer des Aufgebots, jener viergliedrigen Armee unverzüglich Befehl. Sie sollten eilends erkunden, ob der Prinz lebe oder nicht—und er fügte in harter Vermutung hinzu, wer mit einem Eunuchen als Wagenlenker ausgezogen sei, könne nach seinem Dafürhalten kaum noch am Leben sein.

Word by Word

एवम्thus

सःhe

राजाking

मत्स्यानाम्of the Matsyas

विराटःVirata

वाहिनीपतिःcommander of the army

व्यादिदेशcommanded / ordered

अथthen

ताम्that (her/it)

क्षिप्रम्quickly

वाहिनीम्army

चतुरङ्गिणीम्four-limbed (with elephants, chariots, cavalry, infantry)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Virāṭa

Matsya (kingdom/people)

vāhinī (army)

caturaṅgiṇī senā (fourfold army)

kumāra (the prince, unnamed here)

hijṛā/napuṁsaka (eunuch; referenced in the Hindi gloss)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse implicitly cautions that leadership decisions should be based on verification and duty, not on contempt or social prejudice; Virāṭa’s assumption about the prince’s fate shows how bias can cloud judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

King Virāṭa, as commander, quickly orders his fourfold army to investigate whether the prince is alive, while expressing a pessimistic assumption tied to the prince having gone with a eunuch as charioteer.