Shloka 20

Devanagari script

अस्मिन्‌ प्राणा:समायत्ता: पाण्डवानां ममैव च । पाण्डोश्व पिण्डो दाशार्ह तथैव श्वशुरस्य मे,“मेरे और पाण्डवोंके प्राण इस बालकके ही अधीन हैं। दशाहकुलनन्दन! मेरे पति पाण्डु तथा श्वशुर विचित्रवीर्यके पिण्डका भी यही सहारा है

Transliteration

asmin prāṇāḥ samāyattāḥ pāṇḍavānāṃ mamaiva ca | pāṇḍoś ca piṇḍo dāśārha tathaiva śvaśurasya me ||

Translation

“On this child depend the very lives of the Pāṇḍavas and of me as well. O Dāśārha (scion of the Vṛṣṇis), he is likewise the sole support of the ancestral continuity (piṇḍa) of my husband Pāṇḍu and of my father-in-law.”

Word by Word

अस्मिन्in this (one)

प्राणाःlives, vital breaths

समायत्ताःdependent (upon), resting on

पाण्डवानाम्of the Pandavas

ममof me, my

एवindeed, just

चand

पाण्डोःof Pandu

चand

पिण्डःfuneral offering (rice-ball), oblation

दाशार्हO Dasharha (descendant of the Dasharhas)

तथाso, likewise

एवindeed, just

श्वशुरस्यof (my) father-in-law

मेof me, my

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāṇḍavas

Pāṇḍu

Dāśārha (epithet of Kṛṣṇa/Vṛṣṇi)

Śvaśura (father-in-law; contextually Vicitravīrya in the given line)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores dharma as responsibility to preserve life and lineage: a single rightful heir can become the pivot for a family’s survival, social order, and the continuation of ancestral rites (piṇḍa).

What is happening in the narrative?

A speaker emphasizes that the fate of the Pāṇḍavas and the continuation of Pāṇḍu’s (and the elder line’s) ancestral obligations depend upon a particular child, addressing Kṛṣṇa as Dāśārha to stress urgency and protection.