Shloka 4
स एवमुक्तो मातरं प्रत्युवाच जनमेजयस्य भ्रातृभिरभिहतोडस्मीति,माताके इस प्रकार पूछनेपर उसने उत्तर दिया--'माँ! मुझे जनमेजयके भाइयोंने मारा है!
sa evam ukto mātaraṃ pratyuvāca—janamejayasya bhrātṛbhir abhihato ’smi iti; mātā, evaṃ prakāraṃ pṛṣṭe ’sau pratyuvāca—“māḥ! māṃ janamejayasya bhrātṛbhir hataḥ asmi.”
Thus addressed, he replied to his mother: “I have been struck down by the brothers of Janamejaya.” When his mother questioned him in this manner, he answered, “Mother, Janamejaya’s brothers have killed me.” The line underscores the moral weight of kin-based violence and the grief it brings into the household, where a mother becomes the first witness to the consequences of hostility.
राम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and emotional fallout of violence within or between closely connected families: harm done by one’s kin (or a ruler’s kin) returns as sorrow to the home, with the mother confronted by the stark truth of loss.
A son, questioned by his mother, reports the cause of his death/defeat: he has been struck down by Janamejaya’s brothers. The exchange is framed as a direct reply (pratyuvāca) to a mother’s inquiry.