Shloka 11

Adhyāya 20 — Rājadharma Argument for Paternal Inheritance and Timely Conciliation

Devanagari script

तथा विराटनगरे योन्यन्तरगतैरिव । प्राप्त: परमसंक्लेशो यथा पापैर्महात्मभि:,“इतना ही नहीं, दूसरी योनिमें पड़े हुए पापियोंकी तरह विराटनगरमें भी इन महात्माओंको महान्‌ क्लेश सहन करना पड़ा है

Transliteration

tathā virāṭanagare yonyantaragatair iva | prāptaḥ paramasaṅkleśo yathā pāpair mahātmabhiḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dit : «De même, dans la cité de Virāṭa aussi, ces hommes à la grande âme durent endurer une détresse extrême — tels des pécheurs, tombés dans une autre matrice, qui subissent l’amère conséquence de leurs propres actes.»

Word by Word

तथाthus; likewise

विराट-नगरेin the city of Virāṭa

योनि-अन्तर-गतैःby/like those who have gone into another womb (rebirth)

इवas if; like

प्राप्तःattained; came upon

परम-संक्लेशःthe greatest distress

यथाas; just as

पापैःby sinners; by the wicked

महात्मभिःby great-souled ones

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Virāṭanagara (city of Virāṭa)

mahātmānaḥ (the great-souled ones; contextually the Pāṇḍavas)

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 the moral contrast between the noble and the sinful: even the righteous may undergo severe hardship due to circumstance, while the suffering of sinners is framed as the karmic consequence of their own actions—invoking rebirth (“another womb”) as an ethical lens on pain and accountability.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana recalls that the great-souled heroes, even while living in Virāṭa’s city (during their concealed period), experienced intense distress. Their hardship is compared, by way of simile, to the suffering of sinners who have fallen into another birth.