Shloka 20

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

अभिमन्युं च यद्‌ बाल॑ं जात॑ सिंहमिवाद्रिषु

Transliteration

abhimanyuṃ ca yad bālaṃ jātaṃ siṃham ivādriṣu

Translation

«Et Abhimanyu aussi—bien qu’il ne fût qu’un enfant—était né avec l’âme et la vaillance d’un lion parmi les montagnes.»

Word by Word

• अभिमन्युम्: Abhimanyu (as object)
• अभिमन्युम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभिमन्यु
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

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

• यत्: whom/which
• यत्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• बालम्: young, a boy
• बालम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाल
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• जातम्: born, arisen
• जातम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जात
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• सिंहम्: lion
• सिंहम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: सिंह
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• इव: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अद्रिषु: on/in the mountains
• अद्रिषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अद्रि
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Abhimanyu

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights that true valor and dharmic resolve are not measured merely by age; even one who is young can embody the lion-like qualities expected of a kṣatriya—courage, steadfastness, and readiness to uphold duty.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira speaks while recalling Abhimanyu, emphasizing that although he was young, he possessed extraordinary, lion-like prowess—an image that intensifies both admiration and the pathos of his loss in the aftermath of the war.