Shloka 42

Devanagari script

विषं ते भीमसेनाय दत्तं सर्वे च पाण्डवा:

Transliteration

viṣaṃ te bhīmasenāya dattaṃ sarve ca pāṇḍavāḥ

Translation

Vāyu said: “Poison was administered to Bhīmasena—and all the Pāṇḍavas were thereby imperiled.”

Word by Word

• विषम्: poison
• विषम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Dative, Singular

• भीमसेनाय: to Bhimasena
• भीमसेनाय: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भीमसेन
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• दत्तम्: given
• दत्तम्: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: दा
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

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

• पाण्डवाः: the Pandavas
• पाण्डवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vāyudeva
• Bhīmasena
• Pāṇḍavas
• Poison (viṣa)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that adharma often manifests as covert violence—such as poisoning—and that harming the righteous through deceit endangers not only the immediate victim but the moral order itself, inviting eventual karmic and social consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva speaks, recalling that poison was administered to Bhīmasena, an act that threatened the Pāṇḍavas as a whole. It evokes earlier hostility and deceit directed at the Pāṇḍava brothers, framing present events against a backdrop of long-standing enmity.