Shloka 5

Devanagari script

नरकं पातिता: पार्था दीर्घकालमनन्तकम्‌ | सुखाच्च हीना राज्याच्च विनष्टा: शाश्वती: समा:

Transliteration

narakaṁ pātitāḥ pārthā dīrghakālam anantakam | sukhāc ca hīnā rājyaāc ca vinaṣṭāḥ śāśvatīḥ samāḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Los Pārthas han sido arrojados al infierno—una miseria sin fin—por un tiempo larguísimo. Privados de dicha y despojados de su reino, quedan arruinados por incontables años».

Word by Word

• नरकम्: hell
• नरकम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नरक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• पातिताः: having been cast/fallen (made to fall)
• पातिताः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत् (पातयति) / पातित (क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Passive (past participle)

• पार्थाः: the sons of Pṛthā (the Pāṇḍavas)
• पार्थाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पार्थ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• दीर्घकालम्: for a long time
• दीर्घकालम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दीर्घकाल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अनन्तकम्: endless
• अनन्तकम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनन्तक
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• सुखात्: from happiness
• सुखात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सुख
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• हि: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• हीनाः: deprived, bereft
• हीनाः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: हीन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• राज्यात्: from the kingdom
• राज्यात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्य
• Form: Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• विनष्टाः: ruined, undone
• विनष्टाः: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: नश् (विनश्यति) / विनष्ट (क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural, Past participle (intransitive sense)

• शाश्वतीः: everlasting
• शाश्वतीः: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शाश्वती
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

• समाः: years
• समाः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम (वर्ष/सम)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Pārthas (Pāṇḍavas)
• Kuntī (implied by ‘Pārtha’/‘Pṛthā-putra’)
• Naraka (hell)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical consequence of adharma in public life: when injustice, humiliation, and wrongful seizure of sovereignty prevail, the result is prolonged suffering and social ruin. It also warns against pride in wealth and power, since fortune can reverse suddenly.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the dice-game in the Sabha, the Pāṇḍavas are described as utterly overthrown—deprived of happiness and kingdom—portrayed as if plunged into an endless hell, signaling the gravity of their dispossession and the moral darkness of the event.