Shloka 41

Vyāsa’s Boon-Offer and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse in the Forest Assembly (आश्रमवासिक पर्व, अध्याय ३६)

Devanagari script

अहो धिगिति राजा तु विक्रुश्य भृशदु:खित:

Transliteration

aho dhig iti rājā tu vikruśya bhṛśa-duḥkhitaḥ

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Alas! Fie upon it!”—thus the king cried out, wailing in anguish, overwhelmed by intense sorrow. The utterance conveys moral revulsion and self-reproach, a moment where grief turns into an ethical judgment upon what has occurred.

Word by Word

• अहो: alas!/oh!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहो
• Form: Avyaya (exclamation)

• धिग्: fie!/shame!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: धिग्
• Form: Avyaya (censure/exclamation)

• इति: thus (saying)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति
• Form: Avyaya (quotative)

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु
• Form: Avyaya (particle)

• विक्रुश्य: having cried out
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-√क्रुश्
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), from vi-√kruś (to cry out), indeclinable

• भृशदुःखितः: deeply distressed
• भृशदुःखितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भृश-दुःखित
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• the king (rājā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how profound suffering can awaken moral clarity: grief is not only emotional pain but also an ethical reckoning, expressed through self-condemnation (“dhik”) and lament (“aho”).

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana reports that the king, struck by intense sorrow, cries out loudly, exclaiming “Alas! Shame!”—a dramatic moment of lamentation and inner turmoil.