Shloka 32

Bhagadattā’s Deployment Against Ghaṭotkaca; Elephant-Corps Escalation

Devanagari script

एवमेते महेष्वासा: पुत्रास्तव विशाम्पते । भ्रातृन्‌ संदृश्य निहतानू प्रास्मरंस्ते हि तद्‌ वच:,प्रजानाथ! इस प्रकार ये आपके महाथनुर्धर पुत्र अपने भाइयोंको मारा गया देख उन बातोंकी याद करने लगे, जिन्हें महाज्ञानी विदुरने कहा था। वे सोचने लगे--दिव्यदर्शी विदुरने हमारे कुशल एवं हितके लिये जो बात कही थी, वह आज सिरपर आ गयी

Transliteration

evam ete maheṣvāsāḥ putrās tava viśāmpate | bhrātṝn saṃdṛśya nihatān prāsmaraṃs te hi tad vacaḥ ||

Translation

Wahai pelindung rakyat, demikianlah putra-putramu yang pemanah agung, melihat saudara-saudara mereka terbunuh, mulai mengingat kembali kata-kata itu.

Word by Word

• {'evam': 'thus, in this manner', 'ete': 'these', 'maheṣvāsāḥ': 'great bowmen, mighty archers', 'putrāḥ': 'sons', 'tava': 'your', 'viśāmpate': 'O lord of the people (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)', 'bhrātṝn': 'brothers (accusative plural)', 'saṃdṛśya': 'having seen, upon seeing', 'nihatān': 'slain, killed', 'prāsmaran': 'they remembered, they called to mind', 'te': 'they / your (sons), contextually ‘they’', 'hi': 'indeed, for', 'tad': 'that, those (very)', 'vacaḥ': 'words, counsel, statement'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Kauravas)
• their brothers (kinsmen)
• Vidura

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ignoring wise, welfare-oriented counsel (such as Vidura’s) leads to predictable moral consequences; when violence turns upon one’s own kin, regret arises too late, revealing the ethical weight of choices made earlier.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the Kaurava princes, seeing their brothers/kinsmen killed in the battle, begin to remember Vidura’s earlier warnings and advice, recognizing that his words have now come true in the unfolding catastrophe.