Shloka 3

Virāṭa’s Mobilization to Recover the Cattle (गोधनरक्षणार्थ विराटस्य सैन्यसमायोजनम्)

Devanagari script

बाधितो बन्धुभि: सार्ध बलादू बलवता विभो | स कर्णमभ्युदीक्ष्याथ दुर्योधनमभाषत,उसने कर्णकी ओर देखकर दुर्योधनसे कहा--'प्रभो! पहले मत्स्य तथा शाल्वदेशके सैनिकोंने अनेक बार चढ़ाई करके हमें कष्ट दिया है। मत्स्यराजके सेनापति महाबली सूतपुत्र कीचकने अपने बन्धुओंके साथ बार-बार आक्रमण करके मुझे बलपूर्वक सताया है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca | bādhito bandhubhiḥ sārdhaṃ balād balavatā vibho | sa karṇam abhyudīkṣyātha duryodhanam abhāṣata ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: Hostigado junto con sus parientes y oprimido por la fuerza por un adversario poderoso, entonces miró hacia Karṇa y se dirigió a Duryodhana. Era una queja por agresiones repetidas—una súplica de consejo y respuesta—que enmarca la tensión ética entre soportar la injuria y contestarla con la fuerza.

Word by Word

• {'vaiśampāyana uvāca': 'Vaiśampāyana said', 'bādhitaḥ': 'afflicted, harassed, troubled', 'bandhubhiḥ sārdham': 'together with (his) relatives/kinsmen', 'balāt': 'by force, forcibly', 'balavatā': 'by/with a powerful (person), by a stronger one', 'vibho': 'O mighty one

• O lord (vocative of address)', 'saḥ': 'he', 'karṇam': 'Karṇa (accusative)', 'abhyudīkṣya': 'having looked toward, having glanced at', 'atha': 'then, thereafter', 'duryodhanam': 'Duryodhana (accusative)', 'abhāṣata': 'spoke, addressed'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Karṇa
• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how political and personal decisions in the epic often arise from perceived injury and power imbalance: a leader, feeling forcibly wronged along with his kin, turns to trusted allies for counsel—raising the ethical question of whether to endure, negotiate, or retaliate.

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker (within Vaiśampāyana’s narration) reports that someone, oppressed together with his relatives by a stronger force, looks toward Karṇa and then speaks to Duryodhana—setting up a strategic discussion in response to repeated harassment.