Shloka 31

Devanagari script

“मेरे जीते-जी जो यह मेरा मित्र-पक्ष परास्त हो गया, वह मेरे शोककी उसी प्रकार वृद्धि कर रहा है, जैसे जलका वेग समुद्रको बढ़ा देता है। आज मेरा मन एक ही कार्यकी ओर लगा हुआ है, फिर मुझे नींद कैसे आ सकती है और मुझे सुख भी कैसे मिल सकता है? ।। वासुदेवार्जुनाभ्यां च तानहं परिरक्षितान्‌ | अविषद्दुतमान्‌ मन्ये महेन्द्रेणापि सत्तम

Transliteration

me jīte-jī yo yaḥ mama mitra-pakṣaḥ parājito 'bhavat, sa mama śokasya tathā vṛddhiṃ karoti yathā jalavegaḥ samudraṃ vardhayati | adya mama mana ekasmin kārye eva lagnaṃ, tarhi me nidrā kathaṃ bhavet, sukhaṃ ca kathaṃ labheya? || vāsudevārjunābhyāṃ ca tān ahaṃ parirakṣitān | aviṣaṇṇān uttamān manye mahendreṇāpi sattama ||

Translation

Dijo Kṛpa: «Mientras yo aún vivo, la derrota de mi propio bando aliado no hace sino hinchar mi dolor, como el ímpetu de las aguas hace crecer el océano. Hoy mi mente está fija en una sola tarea; ¿cómo, entonces, habría de venir el sueño a mí, y cómo podría hallar sosiego? A esos hombres, guardados por Vāsudeva y Arjuna, los juzgo inconmovibles y los más eminentes—oh, el mejor de los hombres—como si estuvieran protegidos incluso por el propio Mahendra».

Word by Word

• {'jīte-jī': 'while (I am) alive

• as long as I live', 'mitra-pakṣa': 'the allied party

• one’s own side/supporters', 'parājita': 'defeated, overcome', 'śoka': 'grief, sorrow', 'vṛddhi': 'increase, growth', 'jalavega': 'rush/force of water

• flood-current', 'samudra': 'ocean, sea', 'manaḥ': 'mind, inner resolve', 'kārya': 'task, deed, purpose', 'nidrā': 'sleep', 'sukha': 'ease, comfort, peace', 'vāsudeva': 'Kṛṣṇa, son of Vasudeva', 'arjuna': 'Pāṇḍava hero Arjuna', 'parirakṣita': 'protected, guarded on all sides', 'aviṣaṇṇa': 'not dejected

• unshaken in spirit', 'uttama': 'best, excellent, foremost', 'mahendra': 'Indra, lord of the gods', 'sattama': 'best of beings/men (vocative of praise)'}

Speaker

कृप उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Kṛpa
• Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa)
• Arjuna
• Mahendra (Indra)
• the allied party (mitra-pakṣa)
• ocean (samudra)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how attachment to one’s side in war magnifies sorrow after defeat, and how intense resolve toward a chosen act drives away sleep and comfort. It also underscores the ethical reality that morale and protection—especially under exemplary leaders like Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna—can make opponents seem invincible.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Sauptika Parva, after the catastrophic losses, Kṛpa speaks from the Kaurava camp. He laments the defeat of his allied party, compares his grief to an ocean swollen by rushing waters, and declares that his mind is fixed on a single course of action; he also remarks that those protected by Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna appear steadfast and unsurpassed.