Shloka 33

अध्याय १२८: शिव–उमा संवादः — तिलोत्तमा, श्मशान-मेध्यता, तथा चातुर्वर्ण्य-धर्मः

Chapter 128: Śiva–Umā Dialogue—Tilottamā, the Ritual Valence of the Śmaśāna, and the Fourfold Duty-Code

Devanagari script

सुह्दां दुःखमार्तानां न प्रमोक्ष्यसि चार्तिजम्‌ । अलमर्थगुणैहीनं तेनासि हरिण: कृश:

Transliteration

suhṛdāṁ duḥkhamārtānāṁ na pramokṣyasi cārtijam | alam arthaguṇair hīnaṁ tenāsi hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||

Translation

The brāhmaṇa said: “Your well-wishers and friends are afflicted by suffering, yet you are unable to free them from the pain born of their distress. And you find yourself lacking in the resources and advantages of wealth. That is why you have become pale and emaciated like a deer.”

Word by Word

• {'suhṛdām': 'of well-wishers, friends', 'duḥkha-mārtānām': 'of those distressed/afflicted by suffering', 'na pramokṣyasi': 'you do not (are not able to) release, deliver', 'ca': 'and', 'ārtijam': 'arising from affliction

• pain caused by distress', 'alam': 'sufficiently

• indeed (emphatic particle)', 'artha-guṇaiḥ': 'by the benefits/advantages of wealth

• material means and their utilities', 'hīnam': 'devoid of, lacking', 'tena': 'therefore, for that reason', 'asi': 'you are', 'hariṇaḥ': 'like a deer

• deer', 'kṛśaḥ': 'thin, emaciated'}

Speaker

ब्राह्मण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• ब्राह्मण (speaker)
• सुहृद् (friends/well-wishers)
• हरिण (deer, as simile)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse stresses ethical responsibility toward one’s well-wishers: if friends and dependents suffer and one cannot relieve their distress—especially due to lack of material means—this becomes a moral and social failing, reflected metaphorically in one’s weakened state.

What is happening in the narrative?

A brāhmaṇa addresses someone who appears pale and thin, attributing this condition to two linked causes: the suffering of the person’s friends and relatives, and the person’s inability—through lack of wealth/resources—to remove their pain.