Shloka 16

स्त्रीपर्व — नवमोऽध्यायः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra summons the Kuru women; the city departs in collective lamentation

Devanagari script

एकसर्थप्रयातानां सर्वेषां तत्र गामिनाम्‌ । यस्य काल: प्रयात्यग्रे तत्र का परिदेवना,“एक साथ आये हुए सभी प्राणियोंको एक दिन वहीं जाना है। जिसका काल आ गया, वह पहले चला जाता है; फिर उसके लिये व्यर्थ शोक क्यों?

Transliteration

ekasārthaprayātānāṁ sarveṣāṁ tatra gāminām | yasya kālaḥ prayāty agre tatra kā paridevanā ||

Translation

All beings who have set out together on this journey must, one day, reach the same end. When a person’s appointed time arrives, he departs first; therefore, what purpose is served by lamentation for him?

Word by Word

एकin one (same place/time)

सार्थin a caravan/company

प्रयातानाम्of those who have set out / departed

सर्वेषाम्of all

तत्रthere

गामिनाम्of those who are going (thither-bound)

यस्यwhose / for whom

कालःtime (appointed time/death-time)

प्रयातिgoes forth / departs

अग्रेin front / first

तत्रthere

काwhat (which?)

परिदेवनाlamentation / wailing

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

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?

Since all beings are fellow-travelers headed to the same inevitable end, death is not an anomaly but a certainty; when one’s destined time arrives, departure happens naturally, so excessive lamentation is portrayed as futile and ethically unhelpful.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strī Parva’s mourning context after the war, Vaiśampāyana voices a consolatory reflection: those who have died have merely gone ahead according to their appointed time, and the living are urged to restrain unproductive grief.