Shloka 3

Ruru’s Lament and the Lifespan Exchange for Pramadvarā (रुरु–प्रमद्वरा आयुर्विभागः)

Devanagari script

शेते सा भुवि तन्वज्गी मम शोकविवर्धिनी । बान्धवानां च सर्वेषां कि नु दुःखमत: परम्‌,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--शौनकजी! वे ब्राह्मण प्रमद्वराके चारों ओर वहाँ बैठे थे, उसी समय रुरु अत्यन्त दुःखित हो गहन वनमें जाकर जोर-जोरसे रुदन करने लगा। शोकसे पीड़ित होकर उसने बहुत करुणाजनक विलाप किया और अपनी प्रियतमा प्रमद्वराका स्मरण करके शोकमग्न हो इस प्रकार बोला--“हाय! वह कृशांगी बाला मेरा तथा समस्त बान्धवोंका शोक बढ़ाती हुई भूमिपर सो रही है; इससे बढ़कर दुःख और क्या हो सकता है?

Transliteration

śete sā bhuvi tanvaṅgī mama śokavivardhinī | bāndhavānāṃ ca sarveṣāṃ ki nu duḥkham ataḥ param ||

Translation

Śaunaka said: “She lies there upon the earth—slender-limbed—only increasing my grief and the grief of all our kinsmen. What sorrow could possibly be greater than this?”

Word by Word

शेतेlies, is lying

साshe

भुविon the ground, on earth

तन्वङ्गीslender-limbed (girl)

ममof me, my

शोकgrief

विवर्धिनीincreasing, augmenting

बान्धवानाम्of (our) kinsmen/relatives

चand

सर्वेषाम्of all

किम्what?

नुindeed, pray (interrogative particle)

दुःखम्sorrow, suffering

अतःthan this, from this

परम्greater, beyond (i.e., worse)

Speaker

शौनक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Śaunaka

she (Pramadvarā, implied by context)

bāndhava (kinsmen/relatives)

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 foregrounds the human experience of grief: attachment to loved ones makes loss feel unsurpassable. It implicitly invites reflection on impermanence and the need for steadiness (dhairya) when confronted with death and suffering.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Ruru–Pramadvarā episode, the beloved maiden lies on the ground as if dead; the speaker voices an anguished lament, saying that her condition intensifies the sorrow of himself and all relatives, and that no pain could be greater.