Shloka 12

Jayadrathasya śoka-bhaya-vilāpaḥ — Droṇena āśvāsanaṃ ca

Jayadratha’s lament and Droṇa’s reassurance

Devanagari script

भरतनन्दन युधिष्ठिर! यह विधाताका विधान है। इसका कोई भी उल्लंघन नहीं कर सकता। मृत्यु देवताओं, दानवों तथा गन्धर्वोंके भी प्राण हर लेती है ।। युधिछिर उवाच इमे वै पृथिवीपाला: शेरते पृथिवीतले । निहता: पृतनामध्ये मृतसंज्ञा महाबला:,युधिष्ठिर बोले--मुने! ये महाबली भूपालगण सेनाके मध्यमें मारे जाकर “मृत” नाम धारण करके पृथ्वीपर सो रहे हैं

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: ime vai pṛthivīpālāḥ śerate pṛthivītale | nihatāḥ pṛtanāmadhye mṛtasaṃjñā mahābalāḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O sage, these mighty kings—guardians of the earth—lie stretched upon the ground. Slain in the midst of the battle-host, they now bear the single designation ‘dead,’ and rest upon the earth.”

Word by Word

युधिष्ठिरःYudhishthira

उवाचsaid

इमेthese

वैindeed

पृथिवीपालाःkings (protectors of the earth)

शेरतेlie, rest

पृथिवीतलेon the surface of the earth

निहताःslain

पृतनामध्येin the midst of the army/battle-array

मृतसंज्ञाःhaving the designation ‘dead’ (i.e., called dead)

महाबलाःvery mighty

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

pṛthivīpālāḥ (kings/rulers)

pṛthivī (earth)

pṛtanā (army/battle-host)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the mightiest rulers, who once upheld worldly order, are reduced by death to a single status—‘dead.’ The verse underscores the leveling power of mortality and invites ethical reflection on the cost of war and the fragility of power.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a sage and points to the battlefield aftermath: powerful kings have been slain amid the armies and now lie on the earth, their former royal identity eclipsed by death.