Shloka 19

Dyūta-kathā-praśnaḥ — Inquiry into the Dice-Game Calamity

Devanagari script

गते पितामहे राजा चिन्ताशोकसमन्वित: । निःश्वसन्नुष्णमसकृत्‌ तमेवार्थ विचिन्तयन्‌

Transliteration

gate pitāmahe rājā cintāśokasamanvitaḥ | niḥśvasann uṣṇam asakṛt tam evārthaṁ vicintayan ||

Translation

Cuando el venerable anciano hubo partido, el rey Yudhiṣṭhira—abrumado por la inquietud y el dolor—exhalaba una y otra vez suspiros ardientes, rumiando sin cesar el mismo asunto. Se preguntó cómo podría el esfuerzo humano desviar el decreto del destino, y concluyó que cuanto el gran sabio había declarado, sin duda habría de cumplirse.

Word by Word

• {'gate': 'having gone

• departed', 'pitāmahe': 'when the grandsire (elder) had gone

• locative absolute sense', 'rājā': 'the king', 'cintā-śoka-samanvitaḥ': 'endowed with anxiety and sorrow

• afflicted by worry and grief', 'niḥśvasan': 'sighing

• breathing out', 'uṣṇam': 'hot

• heated (breath/sigh)', 'asakṛt': 'again and again

• repeatedly', 'tam eva': 'that very (same) one', 'arthaṁ': 'matter

• purpose', 'vicintayan': 'reflecting upon

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pitāmaha (grandsire/elder)
• Vyāsa (implied by context)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tension between daiva (fate) and puruṣārtha (human effort): even a righteous king, struck by sorrow, confronts the question of whether destiny can be resisted, and recognizes the inevitability of a seer’s truthful pronouncement.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the departure of the revered elder (understood in context as Vyāsa), Yudhiṣṭhira is left anxious and grieving; he repeatedly sighs and keeps contemplating the same troubling issue, anticipating that the sage’s words will inevitably be fulfilled.