Shloka 15

धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा—व्यासोपदेशः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Collapse and Vyāsa’s Counsel

Devanagari script

अश्रुवे जीवलोके च स्थाने वा शाश्वते सति । जीविते मरणान्ते च कस्माच्छोचसि भारत,भरतनन्दन! जब जीव-जगत्‌ अनित्य है, सनातन परम पद नित्य है और इस जीवनका अन्त मृत्युमें ही है, तब तुम इसके लिये शोक क्‍यों करते हो?

Transliteration

aśruve jīvaloke ca sthāne vā śāśvate sati | jīvite maraṇānte ca kasmāc chocasī bhārata, bharatanandana ||

Translation

Vyāsa said: “In this world of living beings, everything is perishable; only the eternal abode truly endures. And since life inevitably ends in death, why do you grieve over it, O Bhārata, delight of the Bharata line?”

Word by Word

अश्रुवेin tears / in weeping

जीवलोकेin the world of living beings

चand

स्थानेin a place/state

वाor

शाश्वतेin the eternal (state/place)

सतिbeing/existing (when it exists)

जीवितेin life / while living

मरणान्तेat the end in death / ending in death

चand

कस्मात्why? / from what reason?

शोचसिyou grieve

भारतO Bharata

भरतनन्दनO delight of Bharata (descendant of Bharata)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

Bhārata (descendant of Bharata)

Bharatanandana (scion of the Bharatas)

śāśvata sthāna (the eternal abode)

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?

Grief is questioned on the grounds that the mortal world is inherently impermanent, while the truly enduring reality is the eternal abode; since death is the inevitable end of embodied life, lamentation over what must pass is portrayed as misplaced.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strī Parva’s aftermath of war and loss, Vyāsa addresses a Bharata prince/descendant who is overwhelmed by sorrow, offering philosophical consolation by contrasting the transient nature of worldly life with the permanence of the eternal state.