Shloka 69

Devanagari script

वैरमन्तिकमासाद्य य:ः प्रीतिं कर्तुमिच्छति । मृन्मयस्येव भग्नस्य यथा संधिर्न विद्यते,इस प्रकार मरणान्त वैर ठन जानेपर जो प्रेम करना चाहता है, उसका वह प्रेम उसी प्रकार असम्भव है, जैसे मिट्टीका बर्तन एक बार फूट जानेपर फिर नहीं जुटता है

Transliteration

vairam āntikam āsādya yaḥ prītiṃ kartum icchati | mṛṇmayasyeva bhagnasya yathā sandhir na vidyate ||

Translation

Brahmadatta said: “When enmity has been carried to its final limit—ending only with death—whoever then wishes to establish affection finds it impossible. Such love cannot be restored, just as a clay vessel, once shattered, admits of no true rejoining.”

Word by Word

वैरम्enmity

अन्तिकम्near, close (to)

आसाद्यhaving reached/approached

यःwho

प्रीतिम्affection, friendship

कर्तुम्to make/do

इच्छतिwishes, desires

मृन्मयस्यof an earthen (thing)

इवlike, as

भग्नस्यof (something) broken

यथाjust as

सन्धिःjoining, reunion, repair

नnot

विद्यतेexists, is found

Speaker

ब्रह्मदत्त उवाच

Characters & Entities

Brahmadatta

clay pot (earthen vessel)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

If hostility is allowed to harden to the point of mortal, irreversible conflict, later attempts at affection or reconciliation are futile; some ruptures—like a shattered clay pot—cannot be made whole again.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a didactic exchange within the Śānti Parva, Brahmadatta offers a moral observation using a concrete metaphor: once enmity has reached its terminal extreme, the possibility of restoring genuine friendship is effectively lost.