Shloka 10

धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)

Devanagari script

कथं त्वं पृथिवीपालांस्त्यक्त्वा तात समागतान्‌ | शेषे विनिहतो भूमौ प्राकृत: कुनूपो यथा,तात! तुम यहाँ पधारे हुए समस्त भूमिपालोंको छोड़कर किसी नीच और दुष्ट राजाके समान मारे जाकर पृथ्वीपर कैसे सो रहे हो?

Transliteration

kathaṁ tvaṁ pṛthivīpālāṁs tyaktvā tāta samāgatān | śeṣe vinihato bhūmau prākṛtaḥ kunūpo yathā ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “My son, how is it that, abandoning the assembled kings of the earth, you now lie here on the ground—struck down—like some ordinary, contemptible wretch? How have you come to such a fall?”

Word by Word

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्
• Form: Avyaya

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Gender: —, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular

• पृथिवीपालान्: earth-protectors, kings
• पृथिवीपालान्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पृथिवीपाल
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Accusative, Number: Plural

• त्यक्त्वा: having abandoned
• Type: Verb
• Root: त्यज्
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा), Indeclinable verbal form

• तात: dear father / dear one
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Vocative, Number: Singular

• समागतान्: assembled, arrived
• Type: Adjective
• Root: समागत
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Accusative, Number: Plural (past passive participle used adjectivally)

• शेषे: you lie / you sleep
• Type: Verb
• Root: शी
• Form: Present, Parasmaipada, 2nd person, Singular

• विनिहतः: slain, struck down
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विनिहत
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular (past passive participle)

• भूमौ: on the ground / on the earth
• भूमौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: भूमि
• Form: Gender: Feminine, Case: Locative, Number: Singular

• प्राकृतः: common, base, vulgar
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्राकृत
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular

• कुनूपः: a low/wicked man (as a proper/common noun here)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुनूप
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Nominative, Number: Singular

• यथा: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा
• Form: Avyaya

• तात: dear one!
• Type: Noun
• Root: तात
• Form: Gender: Masculine, Case: Vocative, Number: Singular

Speaker

धघतयाट्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• tāta (addressed son, i.e., Duryodhana in context)
• pṛthivīpālāḥ (kings/rulers)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethical contrast between royal duty and ignoble downfall: a king is expected to uphold honor, protect allies, and stand firm in responsibility; abandoning one’s role and ending in disgrace is portrayed as a moral and social collapse, intensified by a father’s grief and reproach.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses his son (contextually Duryodhana) after a disastrous turn in the war, lamenting that he lies struck down on the ground and questioning how he could have forsaken the gathered kings and come to such a humiliating state.