Shloka 25

उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय ८१: कृष्णस्य दूतप्रयाणम्

Udyoga Parva, Chapter 81: Krishna Sets Out as Envoy

Devanagari script

जीवत्सु पाण्डुपुत्रेषु प्चालेष्वथ वृष्णिषु | दासीभूतास्मि पापानां सभामध्ये व्यवस्थिता

Transliteration

jīvatsu pāṇḍuputreṣu pāñcāleṣv atha vṛṣṇiṣu | dāsībhūtāsmi pāpānāṃ sabhāmadhye vyavasthitā ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: While the sons of Pāṇḍu, the Pāñcālas, and the Vṛṣṇis were still alive, those sinful men reduced me to the state of a slave and made me stand in the midst of the royal assembly.

Word by Word

• जीवत्सु: while (they are) alive; among the living
• जीवत्सु: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जीवत्
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• पाण्डु-पुत्रेषु: among the sons of Pāṇḍu (the Pāṇḍavas)
• पाण्डु-पुत्रेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डुपुत्र
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• पाञ्चालेषु: among the Pāñcālas
• पाञ्चालेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाञ्चाल
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• अथ: and then; also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• वृष्णिषु: among the Vṛṣṇis (Yādavas)
• वृष्णिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वृष्णि
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• दासी-भूता: having become a slave-woman; enslaved
• दासी-भूता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दासीभूत
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अस्मि: I am
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Present, First, Singular

• पापानाम्: of the sinful (ones)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पाप
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• सभा-मध्ये: in the midst of the assembly
• सभा-मध्ये: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सभामध्य
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• व्यवस्थिता: standing/placed; made to remain (present)
• व्यवस्थिता: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: व्यवस्था + क्त (स्थिता)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pāṇḍuputras (Pāṇḍavas)
• Pāñcālas
• Vṛṣṇis
• sabhā (royal assembly/court)
• Kauravas (implied by 'pāpānām' in context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical catastrophe that occurs when a society’s guardians of dharma allow injustice in public institutions: even with righteous and powerful protectors alive, wrongdoing can prevail if courage and moral responsibility fail in the assembly.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker recalls being forced into a state of servitude and made to stand in the royal court by sinful opponents, despite the continued existence of the Pāṇḍavas and their allies (the Pāñcālas and Vṛṣṇis), emphasizing the public nature of the insult and the court’s complicity.