Shloka 21

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization

Devanagari script

एतच्च मरणं तात यन्मत्त: पतितादिव । ज्ञातयो विनिवर्तन्ते प्रेतसत््वादिवासव:,तात! जैसे पतित मनुष्यके निकटसे लोग दूर भागते हैं और जैसे मृत शरीरसे प्राण निकल जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार मेरे कुटुम्बीजन भी जो मुझसे मुँह मोड़ रहे हैं, यही मेरे लिये मरण है

Transliteration

etac ca maraṇaṃ tāta yan mattaḥ patitād iva | jñātayo vinivartante pretasattvād ivāsavaḥ ||

Translation

Dear child, this is death to me: that my own kinsmen turn away from me, as people recoil from one who has fallen, and as the vital breaths depart from a lifeless body. Their withdrawal and refusal to stand with me feels like the loss of life itself.

Word by Word

एतत्this

चand

मरणम्death

तातdear (son/father), O dear one

यत्which/that

मतःfrom me

पतितात्from a fallen/outcast (person)

इवlike/as

ज्ञातयःkinsmen/relatives

विनिवर्तन्तेturn back/turn away/withdraw

प्रेतसत्त्वात्from a dead body (lit. dead-being)

इवlike/as

आसवाःvital breaths/life-forces

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

jñātayaḥ (kinsmen/relatives)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Geographic Context

Sandhi Notes