Shloka 10
Dhanañjaya-viraha-śoka and the Resolve to Enter Gandhamādana (धनंजय-विरह-शोकः गन्धमादन-प्रवेश-संकल्पश्च)
चरन्तमरिसंघेषु काले क्रुद्धमिवान्तकम् । प्रभिन्नमिव मातडुं सिंहस्कन्ध॑ं धनंजयम्,जो युद्धके समय शत्रुओंके समूहमें कुपित यमराजकी भाँति विचरता है, जिसके कंधे सिंहके समान हैं तथा जो मदकी धारा बहानेवाले मत्त गजराजके समान शोभा पाता है, उस वीर धनंजयसे अबतक भेंट न हो सकी; इसका मुझे बड़ा दुःख है
carantam arisaṅgheṣu kāle kruddham ivāntakam | prabhinnam iva mātaṅgaṁ siṁhaskandhaṁ dhanañjayam |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Dhanañjaya—moving amid the hosts of enemies like Death itself when Time is enraged, broad-shouldered like a lion, and splendid like a rutting lordly elephant streaming with ichor—him, that heroic Arjuna, I have not yet been able to meet. This grieves me deeply.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights righteous admiration and dependence within dharmic kinship: Yudhiṣṭhira’s grief is not envy but the pain of separation from a protector whose strength is envisioned as a force that restrains adharma in times of danger.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes Arjuna’s fearsome prowess through vivid similes—Death in wrath, a musth elephant, and a lion-shouldered warrior—and laments that he has not yet been able to meet him, expressing deep sorrow at the separation.