Shloka 13

Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

इदं कष्टतरं चान्यद्‌ भगवन्‌ प्रतिभाति मे

Transliteration

idaṃ kaṣṭataraṃ cānyad bhagavan pratibhāti me

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Revered sir, another matter—still more painful—presents itself to my mind.”

Word by Word

• इदम्: this
• इदम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• कष्टतरम्: more difficult / more painful
• कष्टतरम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कष्ट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन, तुलनात्मक (तरप्)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अन्यत्: another (thing)
• अन्यत्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• भगवन्: O venerable one / O Lord
• Type: Noun
• Root: भगवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन

• प्रतिभाति: appears / seems
• Type: Verb
• Root: √भा (भा॒ दीप्तौ) with प्रति-
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), परस्मैपद, प्रथम, एकवचन

• मे: to me / for me (in my view)
• मे: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: त्रिलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical psychology of dharma: a conscientious ruler does not suppress troubling questions but brings them before a revered guide, acknowledging that some duties and consequences feel increasingly painful and demand honest reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Āśramavāsika context, Yudhiṣṭhira, burdened by grief and responsibility after the great war and the elders’ withdrawal to the forest, voices that yet another, even harsher concern has arisen in his mind and is about to be expressed to the revered interlocutor.