Shloka 37

Jayadrathasya śoka-bhaya-vilāpaḥ — Droṇena āśvāsanaṃ ca

Jayadratha’s lament and Droṇa’s reassurance

Devanagari script

नारद उवाच शृणु राजन्‌ महाबाहो आख्यानं बहुविस्तरम्‌ । यथावृत्तं श्रुतं चैव मयापि वसुधाधिप,नारदजी बोले--पृथ्वीपते! तुम्हारे पुत्रकी मृत्यु जिस प्रकार घटित हुई है, वह सब वृत्तान्त मैंने भी यथार्थरूपसे सुन लिया है। महाबाहु नरेश! अब मैं तुम्हारे सामने एक बहुत विस्तृत कथा आरम्भ करता हूँ। तुम ध्यान देकर सुनो

Transliteration

nāradā uvāca śṛṇu rājan mahābāho ākhyānaṃ bahuvistaram | yathāvṛttaṃ śrutaṃ caiva mayāpi vasudhādhipa ||

Translation

Nārada berkata, “Dengarkanlah, wahai raja berlengan perkasa. Wahai penguasa bumi, aku pun telah mendengar dengan tepat—sebagaimana terjadinya—perihal bagaimana kematian putramu berlangsung. Kini akan kuawali kisah yang sangat panjang; simaklah dengan saksama.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'नारद उवाच (nāradā uvāca)', 'meaning': 'Narada said'}, {'term': 'शृणु (śṛṇu)', 'meaning': 'listen

• hear (imperative)'}, {'term': 'राजन् (rājan)', 'meaning': 'O king'}, {'term': 'महाबाहो (mahābāho)', 'meaning': 'O mighty-armed one

• epithet of a powerful ruler/warrior'}, {'term': 'आख्यानम् (ākhyānam)', 'meaning': 'narrative

• story'}, {'term': 'बहुविस्तरम् (bahuvistaram)', 'meaning': 'very extensive

• in great detail'}, {'term': 'यथावृत्तम् (yathāvṛttam)', 'meaning': 'as it happened

• according to what occurred'}, {'term': 'श्रुतम् (śrutam)', 'meaning': 'heard

• learned by hearing'}, {'term': 'च एव (ca eva)', 'meaning': 'and indeed

• and also'}, {'term': 'मया अपि (mayā api)', 'meaning': 'by me also

• I too'}, {'term': 'वसुधाधिप (vasudhādhipa)', 'meaning': 'lord of the earth

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Narada
• King (addressed as rājan/vasudhādhipa)
• the king’s son (unnamed in this verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds fidelity to truth in reporting: Narada emphasizes that he will relate events “as they happened” (yathāvṛttam), modeling responsible speech and reliable testimony—an ethical duty especially weighty in times of war and grief.

What is happening in the narrative?

Narada addresses a king and announces that he has accurately heard the circumstances of the king’s son’s death. He then invites the king to listen attentively as he begins a long, detailed account of those events.