Shloka 20

Śakuntalā’s Satya-Discourse and the Recognition of Bharata (शकुन्तला–सत्योपदेशः; भरतप्रतिग्रहः)

Devanagari script

लोडयामास दुष्यन्त: सूदयन्‌ विविधान्‌ मृगान्‌ । बाणगोचरसपम्प्राप्तांस्तत्र व्याप्रगणान्‌ बहूनू

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | loḍayāmāsa duṣyantaḥ sūdayan vividhān mṛgān | bāṇagocarasamprāptāṁs tatra vyāghragaṇān bahūn ||

Translation

Waiśampāyana berkata: Raja Duṣyanta menjelajah hutan sambil membunuh berbagai jenis satwa liar. Di sana ia menumbangkan banyak kawanan harimau yang masuk dalam jangkauan panahnya.

Word by Word

• लोडयामास: trampled/overran
• Type: Verb
• Root: लोडय् (लुड्/लोड्) + आमास (आस्)
• Form: लिट् (परस्मैपद) परिप्रयोगः ‘आमास’ सह (परिपूर्णभूतार्थे), 3, singular

• दुष्यन्तः: Dushyanta
• दुष्यन्तः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुष्यन्त
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

• सूदयन्: killing/slaying
• Type: Verb
• Root: सूदय्
• Form: शतृ (वर्तमान कृदन्त), masculine, nominative, singular

• विविधान्: various
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विविध
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• मृगान्: deer/animals (game)
• मृगान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• बाणगोचरसम्प्राप्तान्: having come within range of arrows
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बाण + गोचर + सम्प्राप्त
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र

• व्याघ्रगणान्: groups of tigers
• व्याघ्रगणान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: व्याघ्र + गण
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

• बहून्: many
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु
• Form: masculine, accusative, plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Duṣyanta
• mṛga (wild game animals)
• vyāghra (tigers)
• bāṇa (arrows)
• forest (implicit setting)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse primarily depicts royal prowess through hunting, but it also invites reflection on dharma: power exercised in the wild can be framed as protection and mastery, yet it carries an ethical tension about violence and the value of restraint—an issue the Mahābhārata repeatedly revisits.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes King Duṣyanta roaming through a forest and hunting many wild animals, especially slaying numerous tigers that come within the range of his arrows.