Shloka 42

Devanagari script

युधिष्ठिर उवाच यः स धर्म: पुरा दृष्ट: सदूभि: शैनेय शाश्वत: । साम्पराये सुद्ृत्कृत्ये तस्य कालोडयमागत:ः,युधिष्ठिरे कहा--शैनेय! साधु पुरुषोंने पूर्वकालमें विपत्तिके समय एक सुहृदके कर्तव्यके विषयमें जिस सनातन धर्मका साक्षात्कार किया है, आज उसीके पालनका अवसर उपस्थित हुआ है

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | yaḥ sa dharmaḥ purā dṛṣṭaḥ sadbhiḥ śaineya śāśvataḥ | sāmparāye su-dṛt-kṛtye tasya kālodayam āgataḥ ||

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Śaineya, that eternal dharma which the good perceived long ago—concerning what a true friend ought to do in a time of calamity—now has its moment of arising. Today is the time to act upon it.”

Word by Word

युधिष्ठिरःYudhiṣṭhira

उवाचsaid

यःwhich/that (who)

सःthat (he/it)

धर्मःdharma; duty; righteous conduct

पुराformerly; in olden times

दृष्टःseen; realized; perceived

सद्भिःby the good (people)

शैनेयO Śaineya (descendant of Śini)

शाश्वतःeternal; perennial

साम्परायेin the crisis; in the final encounter/at the time of death

सुहृत्कृत्येin the duty of a friend (what a well-wisher must do)

तस्यof that; for that

कालःtime; occasion

अयम्this

आगतःhas come; has arrived

Speaker

युधिष्ठिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Śaineya (Sātyaki)

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?

Dharma is not merely a theory; it must be enacted at the right moment. In times of calamity, the ‘eternal’ standard of conduct is tested—especially the obligations of a true friend and ally (su-hṛt) to act decisively for the other’s welfare.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the midst of the Drona Parva’s intense battle context, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Śaineya (Sātyaki), urging him that the long-recognized righteous duty of a friend in a crisis has now become immediately applicable—this is the moment to fulfill that obligation.