Shloka 6

Somaka–Jantu Ākhyāna: Desire-Driven Sacrifice and Shared Karmic Consequence

Devanagari script

आर्ता निपेतु: सहसा पृथिव्यां कुरुनन्दन | सर्वाश्ष गर्भानलभंस्ततस्ता: परमाड़्ना:

Transliteration

ārtā nipetuḥ sahasā pṛthivyāṃ kurunandana | sarvāś ca garbhān alabhanta tatas tāḥ paramārditāḥ ||

Translation

Overwhelmed with distress, O joy of the Kurus, they suddenly fell upon the ground. Thereafter, those women—utterly afflicted—lost their pregnancies, their bodies and minds shaken by extreme suffering.

Word by Word

आर्ताःdistressed, afflicted

निपेतुःfell down

सहसाsuddenly, at once

पृथिव्याम्on the earth, on the ground

कुरुनन्दनO joy of the Kurus (O descendant of Kuru)

सर्वाःall

चand

गर्भान्fetuses, embryos; pregnancies

अलभन्obtained, got; (here) retained/kept

ततःthen, thereafter; from that

ताःthose (women)

परमाण्णाःhaving supreme command/authority; of highest order (reading uncertain)

Speaker

लोगमश उवाच

Characters & Entities

Lomāśa

Kurunandana (Kuru prince addressed)

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?

The verse foregrounds the human cost of calamity: intense fear and grief can shatter bodily stability and destroy new life. Ethically, it invites compassion and restraint by showing how suffering spreads beyond direct combatants to the most vulnerable.

What is happening in the narrative?

Lomāśa describes a scene where women, struck by sudden terror and anguish, collapse to the ground; in the aftermath, they miscarry due to the extremity of their affliction.