Shloka 4

Devanagari script

अश्मसारमयं नूनं॑ हृदयं मम संजय । श्रुत्वा विनिहतं भीष्मं शतधा यजन्न दीर्यते,संजय! निश्चय ही मेरा हृदय लोहेका बना हुआ है; क्योंकि आज भीष्मजीके मारे जानेका समाचार सुनकर भी यह सैकड़ों टुकड़ोंमें विदीर्ण नहीं हो रहा है

Transliteration

aśmasāramayaṃ nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mama sañjaya | śrutvā vinihataṃ bhīṣmaṃ śatadhā yaj janna dīryate ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «Assurément mon cœur est fait de pierre et de fer, ô Sañjaya ; car, même en apprenant que Bhīṣma a été terrassé, il ne se brise pas en cent morceaux. La douleur devrait me rompre, mais l’attachement et l’illusion me laissent intact.»

Word by Word

अश्मसारमयम्made of stone-essence (stone-hard)

नूनम्surely, indeed

हृदयम्heart

ममof me, my

संजयO Sañjaya

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

विनिहतम्slain, killed

भीष्मम्Bhīṣma

शतधाinto a hundred parts, a hundredfold

यत्which (that)

नnot

दीर्यतेis torn, splits

संजयO Sañjaya

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Sañjaya

Bhīṣma

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 highlights how attachment and delusion can harden the heart: even when confronted with a catastrophic loss (Bhīṣma’s fall), Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes a moral-emotional numbness in himself. It implicitly critiques inner blindness—when one’s conscience and compassion should break, they remain rigid due to long-cultivated partiality and adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya has reported to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma has been felled in battle. Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts with astonished self-reproach, saying his heart must be stone-like because it does not shatter upon hearing of Bhīṣma’s downfall.