Shloka 188
तदैव हि स राजेन्द्रो दुःखशोकाप्लुतो5 भवत् | यदैव वृत्तं पितरमुत्तड़कादशूणोत् तदा,उत्तंकके मुखसे जिस समय उन्होंने पिताके मरनेकी बात सुनी, उसी समय वे महाराज दुःख और शोकमें डूब गये
tadaiva hi sa rājendro duḥkhaśokāpluto 'bhavat | yadaiva vṛttaṃ pitaram uttadakād aśṛṇot tadā ||
At that very moment, the king—overwhelmed by sorrow and grief—was plunged into anguish; for as soon as he heard from Uttadaka the news of his father’s death, his heart was struck by bereavement. The passage underscores the natural force of filial attachment and the ethical weight of hearing and bearing painful truth.
उत्तड़क उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the inevitability of grief upon hearing of a parent’s death and points to the ethical seriousness of conveying and receiving painful truth; it frames sorrow as a natural human response within a dharma-centered narrative rather than as a moral failing.
Uttadaka reports the event concerning the father’s death, and the king immediately becomes overwhelmed—submerged in duḥkha (pain) and śoka (grief)—upon hearing the news.