Shloka 15

Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)

Devanagari script

कांक्षमाणा: श्रियं कृत्स्नां पृथिव्यां च महद्‌ यश: । कृतान्तविधिसंयुक्ता: कालेन निधनं गता:

Transliteration

kāṅkṣamāṇāḥ śriyaṃ kṛtsnāṃ pṛthivyāṃ ca mahad yaśaḥ | kṛtāntavidhisaṃyuktāḥ kālena nidhanaṃ gatāḥ ||

Translation

They longed to obtain complete royal prosperity and great fame spread across the earth; yet, driven by the ordinance of Kṛtānta (Death), they were, in due time, carried to their end by Time itself.

Word by Word

• काङ्क्षमाणाः: desiring
• काङ्क्षमाणाः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: काङ्क्ष्
• Form: present (vartamana), parasmaipada, शतृ (present active participle), masculine, nominative, plural

• श्रियम्: prosperity, fortune
• श्रियम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• कृत्स्नाम्: entire, complete
• कृत्स्नाम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कृत्स्न
• Form: feminine, accusative, singular

• पृथिव्याम्: on the earth
• पृथिव्याम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवी
• Form: feminine, locative, singular

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

• महत्: great
• महत्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महत्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• यशः: fame, glory
• यशः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: यशस्
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• कृतान्तविधिसंयुक्ताः: joined with (i.e., constrained by) the ordinance of Death
• कृतान्तविधिसंयुक्ताः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संयुक्त
• Form: क्त (past passive participle), masculine, nominative, plural

• कालेन: by Time
• कालेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: काल
• Form: masculine, instrumental, singular

• निधनम्: death, destruction
• निधनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: निधन
• Form: neuter, accusative, singular

• गताः: went, reached
• गताः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: गम्
• Form: क्त (past active sense, PPP used adjectivally), masculine, nominative, plural

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vyāsa
• Kṛtānta (Death/Yama)
• Kāla (Time)
• Pṛthivī (Earth)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even the fullest prosperity and the widest fame are subordinate to the decree of Death and the power of Time; therefore one should temper ambition with dharma and detachment, remembering life’s inevitability of ending.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa comments on people (implicitly rulers and aspirants to power) who sought complete royal fortune and earth-wide renown, but—bound to the law of Kṛtānta—eventually met death as Time brought their lives to a close.