Shloka 60
धृतराष्ट्रस्य पाण्डवेषु प्रीति-वृत्तान्तः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Affectionate Disposition toward the Pāṇḍavas
म्लायते मे मनो हीद॑ मुखं च परिशुष्यति । वयसा च प्रकृष्टेन वाग्व्यायामेन चैव ह,“एक तो मेरी वृद्धावस्था और दूसरे बोलनेका परिश्रम, इन कारणोंसे मेरा जी घबरा रहा है और मुँह सूखा जाता है”
mlāyate me mano hīdaṁ mukhaṁ ca pariśuṣyati | vayasā ca prakṛṣṭena vāgvyāyāmena caiva ha ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Here and now my mind is failing, and my mouth is drying up. Overcome by advanced age and the strain of speaking, I feel my strength ebbing.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a truthful narrator is subject to bodily limits; the verse highlights human frailty—especially in old age—and implicitly calls for patience and compassion toward those bearing the burden of recounting painful events.
Vaiśampāyana, in the course of narrating events, pauses to confess that his mind is flagging and his mouth is drying due to advanced age and the exertion of speaking, signaling the emotional and physical weight of the account.