Shloka 11

Devanagari script

यथा महान्तमध्वानमाशया पुरुष: पतन्‌ | स निराशो निवर्तेत कर्मतन्नस्तथोपमम्‌,जैसे कोई मनुष्य मनमें कोई आशा लेकर बहुत बड़ा मार्ग तै करे और वहाँ पहुँचनेपर निराश लौटे, हमारा यह कार्य भी उसी तरह निष्फल हो रहा है

Transliteration

yathā mahāntam adhvānam āśayā puruṣaḥ patan | sa nirāśo nivarteta karma tan nas tathopamam ||

Translation

Bhima said: “Just as a man, driven onward by hope, undertakes a very long journey, yet on reaching the end returns disappointed, so too our undertaking has become comparable to that—ending in futility.”

Word by Word

यथाjust as

महान्तम्great, large

अध्वानम्journey, road, path

आशयाwith hope

पुरुषःa man, person

पतन्going, proceeding (lit. moving/falling)

सःhe

निराशःhopeless, disappointed

निवर्तेतwould return, should turn back

कर्मact, undertaking

तत्that

नःof us, our

तथाso, thus, in the same way

उपमम्comparable, similar

Speaker

भीम उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhima

puruṣa (a man, generic)

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?

Hope can propel great effort, but when the expected fruit does not arise, the same effort feels wasted. The verse highlights the ethical and psychological gap between intention and outcome, urging reflection on attachment to results and the fragility of expectation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhima expresses frustration and sorrow by using a simile: like a traveler who completes a long journey with hope but returns disappointed, he feels that the group’s present undertaking has become fruitless.