Shloka 3

धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति व्यवहार-रक्षा-नियमनोपदेशः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Instruction on Administration, Punishment, and Daily Governance

Devanagari script

धृतराष्ट्री महाराजो वनवासाय दीक्षित: । गमिष्यति वन राजन्नागतां कार्तिकीमिमाम्‌

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

dhṛtarāṣṭrī mahārājo vanavāsāya dīkṣitaḥ |

gamiṣyati vana rājann āgatāṃ kārtikīm imām ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O King, the great lord Dhṛtarāṣṭra has been consecrated for a life of forest-dwelling. When this approaching Kārtikī (the Kārtika full-moon season) arrives, he will set out for the forest.”

Word by Word

• धृतराष्ट्री: Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• धृतराष्ट्री: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: धृतराष्ट्र
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• महाराजः: the great king
• महाराजः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महाराज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वनवासाय: for forest-dwelling (for going to live in the forest)
• वनवासाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वनवास
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• दीक्षितः: initiated / consecrated (having taken the vow)
• दीक्षितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दीक्षित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• गमिष्यति: will go
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: Simple Future (Luṭ), 3rd, Singular

• वनम्: to the forest
• वनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• राजन्: O king
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• आगताम्: arrived / having come
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आ-गम्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• कार्तिकीम्: Kārttikī (of the month Kārttika)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कार्तिकी
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• इमाम्: this
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Kārtikī (Kārtika full-moon time)
• forest (vana)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic transition from royal life to disciplined renunciation: a king, burdened by past events, undertakes a vowed forest-dwelling as an act of restraint, purification, and acceptance of life’s moral consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana informs the listener-king that Dhṛtarāṣṭra has already taken the formal vow (dīkṣā) for vanavāsa and will depart for the forest when the imminent Kārtikī time arrives.