Shloka 60

Devanagari script

युधिछ्िर उवाच माता गुरुतरा भूमे: खातू्‌ पितोच्चतरस्तथा । मन: शीघ्रतरं वाताच्चिन्ता बहुतरी तृणात्‌,युधिष्ठिर बोले--माताका गौरव पृथ्वीसे भी अधिक है। पिता आकाशसे भी ऊँचा है। मन वायुसे भी तेज चलनेवाला है और चिन्ता तिनकोंसे भी अधिक असंख्य एवं अनन्त है

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | mātā gurutarā bhūmeḥ khāt pitor uccataras tathā | manaḥ śīghrataraṃ vātāc cintā bahutarī tṛṇāt |

Translation

युधिष्ठिर बोले—माता पृथ्वी से भी अधिक गौरवशालिनी (गुरुतरा) है; पिता आकाश से भी ऊँचा है। मन वायु से भी अधिक शीघ्रगामी है, और चिन्ता तिनकों से भी अधिक असंख्य है।

Word by Word

युधिष्ठिरःYudhiṣṭhira

उवाचsaid

माताmother

गुरुतराheavier / more weighty

भूमेःthan the earth

खात्than the sky

पिताfather

उच्चतरःhigher / taller

तथाlikewise / similarly

मनःmind

शीघ्रतरम्swifter

वातात्than the wind

चिन्ताworry / anxiety / thought

बहुतरीmore numerous / greater

तृणात्than a blade of grass / straw

Speaker

युधिछ्िर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

mother

father

earth (bhūmi)

sky (kha)

wind (vāta)

mind (manas)

anxiety (cintā)

grass/straw (tṛṇa)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses vivid comparisons to teach values and inner discipline: parents deserve the highest reverence (mother as 'heavier' than earth, father as 'higher' than sky), while the mind’s speed and the boundlessness of anxiety warn that unchecked thought can outpace external forces and multiply suffering—hence the need for restraint, gratitude, and steadiness in dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Vana Parva’s reflective, instruction-heavy setting, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks in a didactic tone, offering aphoristic observations about familial reverence and the nature of the mind. The line functions as moral instruction within a broader dialogue on right conduct and the challenges of human life.