Shloka 38
सुवर्णष्ठीविनोपाख्यानम्
The Account of Suvarṇaṣṭhīvin
खूनसे लथपथ हुए उस बालकको गोदमें लेकर व्यथितचित्त हुए राजा सूंजय व्याकुल होकर विलाप करने लगे ।। ततस्ता मातरस्तस्य रुदत्य: शोककर्शिता: । अभ्यधावन्त तं॑ देशं यत्र राजा स सूंजय:
tatas tā mātaraḥ tasya rudatyaḥ śokakarśitāḥ | abhyadhāvanta taṃ deśaṃ yatra rājā sa sūñjayaḥ ||
King Sūñjaya, his heart distressed, took the boy—smeared with blood—upon his lap and, in agitation, began to wail. Then the boy’s mothers, weeping and worn away by grief, ran swiftly to the place where King Sūñjaya was.
पर्वत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the communal nature of suffering: grief spreads through relationships, reminding a ruler and household alike of the ethical gravity of harm and the need for compassion and restraint.
After the boy’s death (implied by the surrounding narration), his mothers—overcome with sorrow—rush to the location where King Sūñjaya is, drawn by the crisis and the king’s lament.