Shloka 20

Adhyāya 16 — Daiva, Kṣatriya-dharma, and Public Reassurance to Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Devanagari script

श्वत्रूश्चशुरयो: कृत्वा शुश्रूषां वनवासिनो: । तपसा शोषयिष्यामि युधिष्ठिर कलेवरम्‌,युधिष्ठि! अब मैं अपने इन वनवासी सास-ससुरकी सेवा करके तपके द्वारा इस शरीरको सुखा डालूँगी

Transliteration

śvaśrūś ca śvaśurayoḥ kṛtvā śuśrūṣāṁ vanavāsinor | tapasā śoṣayiṣyāmi yudhiṣṭhira kalevaram ||

Translation

Oh Yudhiṣṭhira, tras servir con devoción a mi suegra y a mi suegro, moradores del bosque, por la austeridad iré consumiendo y secando este cuerpo.

Word by Word

श्वश्रूःmother-in-law

चand

श्वशुरौtwo fathers-in-law / father-in-law (dual form as in text)

कृत्वाhaving done / having made

शुश्रूषाम्service, attendance

वनवासिनोःof the two forest-dwellers

तपसाby austerity

शोषयिष्यामिI will dry up / I will emaciate

युधिष्ठिरO Yudhiṣṭhira

कलेवरम्body

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira

śvaśrū (mother-in-law)

śvaśura (father-in-law)

kalevara (body)

vana (forest)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse upholds a dharmic ideal where devoted service to elders (śuśrūṣā) and disciplined austerity (tapas) become a means of inner purification and detachment, especially in the aftermath of worldly upheaval.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker, as reported by Vaiśaṃpāyana, declares to Yudhiṣṭhira an intention to serve the forest-dwelling in-laws and then undertake severe austerities to wither the body—signaling a turn toward ascetic withdrawal and duty-centered renunciation.