Shloka 4

Omens and Consolation after Loss; Reaffirmation of the Saindhava Punishment Vow (उत्पात-दर्शनम्, आश्वासन-वाक्यानि, प्रतिज्ञा-स्थैर्यम्)

Devanagari script

कृपणानां हि रुदतां ये पतन्त्यश्रुबिन्दव:

Transliteration

kṛpaṇānāṃ hi rudatāṃ ye patanty aśrubindavaḥ

Translation

For the tears that fall—drop by drop—from the eyes of the wretched as they weep are not without consequence; they bear a moral weight, arising from helpless grief and the suffering inflicted by fate and human action.

Word by Word

• कृपणानाम्: of the wretched/miserable (people)
• कृपणानाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृपण
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• हि: indeed/for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• रुदताम्: of those who are crying
• रुदताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Kridanta
• Root: रुदत्
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• ये: which/that (those)
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• पतन्ति: fall
• Type: Verb
• Root: पत्
• Form: Present, Third, Plural

• अश्रु-बिन्दवः: tear-drops
• अश्रु-बिन्दवः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्रु + बिन्दु
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• tear-drops (aśrubindavaḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical gravity of another’s suffering: even the tear-drops of the helpless are significant, implying that causing or ignoring such grief carries karmic and moral consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada speaks reflectively, drawing attention to the tears of the afflicted—an admonitory observation within the war-context of the Droṇa Parva, where loss and lamentation are pervasive.