Shloka 25

Devanagari script

अश्मसारमयं नूनं॑ हृदयं मम पार्थिवा:

Transliteration

aśmasāramayaṃ nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mama pārthivāḥ

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Surely my heart is made of stone and iron, O kings—for it does not break even after enduring such grief.”

Word by Word

• अश्मसारमयम्: made of stone/adamantine essence; stone-hard
• अश्मसारमयम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अश्मसारमय
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• नूनम्: surely, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नूनम्

• हृदयम्: heart
• हृदयम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: हृदय
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• मम: of me, my
• मम: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• पार्थिवाः: O kings, O rulers
• पार्थिवाः: Sambodhana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• pārthivāḥ (kings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the astonishing endurance of the human heart in the face of sorrow, prompting ethical reflection on suffering, resilience, and the inner cost of worldly conflict and loss.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses assembled kings and remarks that his heart must be unnaturally hard, since it continues to bear overwhelming grief without breaking—an expression of lament within the Anuśāsana-parvan’s reflective discourse.