Shloka 27

Draupadī’s Grief at Seeing the Heroes in Disguise (द्रौपदी-विषादः / वेष-परिभव-वर्णनम्)

Devanagari script

पार्थिवा: पृथिवीपाला यस्यासन्‌ वशवर्तिन: । स वशे विवशो राजा परेषामद्य वर्तते,इस पृथ्वीका पालन करनेवाले बहुत-से भूपाल जिनकी आज्ञाके अधीन थे, वे ही महाराज आज विवश होकर दूसरोंके वशमें रहते हैं

Transliteration

pārthivāḥ pṛthivīpālā yasyāsan vaśavartinaḥ | sa vaśe vivaśo rājā pareṣām adya vartate ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Many kings—guardians of the earth—once lived under his command. Yet today that very monarch, stripped of freedom, must live under the control of others.”

Word by Word

• पार्थिवाः: kings, rulers
• पार्थिवाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थिव
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पृथिवीपालाः: protectors of the earth (kings)
• पृथिवीपालाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवीपाल
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• यस्य: of whom, whose
• यस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• आसन्: were
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: Imperfect, 3rd, Plural

• वशवर्तिनः: obedient, under (his) control
• वशवर्तिनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वशवर्तिन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सः: he, that (king)
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• वशे: in the power/control
• वशे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वश
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• विवशः: helpless, powerless
• विवशः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विवश
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• परेषाम्: of others
• परेषाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun/Adjective
• Root: पर
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• अद्य: today, now
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य

• वर्तते: exists/remains, is situated, lives (under)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृत्
• Form: Present, 3rd, Singular, Atmanepada

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• rājā (the king, unnamed here)
• pārthivāḥ/pṛthivīpālāḥ (other kings)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Worldly power is unstable: those who once commanded many can, through changing fortune and circumstance, become dependent on others. The verse implicitly urges humility in sovereignty and steadiness in adversity.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana comments on a dramatic reversal: a king who formerly had many subordinate rulers is now himself compelled to live under others’ control, highlighting the precariousness of royal authority.