Shloka 10
Duryodhana’s Account of Gandharva Defeat and the Pandavas’ Intervention (दुर्योधनवर्णितो गन्धर्वसंग्रामः)
प्रबोध्यते मागधसूतपूमै- नित्यं स्तुवद्धि: स्वयमिन्द्रकल्प: । पतत्त्रिसड्घै: स जघन्यरात्रे प्रबोध्यते नूनमिडातलस्थ:,“जिन्हें कभी मागधों और सूतोंका समुदाय प्रतिदिन स्तुति-पाठ करके जगाता था, जो साक्षात् इन्द्रके समान तेजस्वी और पराक्रमी हैं, वे ही राजा युधिष्छिर निश्चय ही अब भूमिपर सोते और पक्षियोंके कलरव सुनकर रातके पिछले पहरमें जागते होंगे”
prabodhyate māgadhasūtapūmaiḥ nityaṁ stuvaddhiḥ svayam indrakalpaḥ | patattrisaṅghaiḥ sa jaghanyarātre prabodhyate nūnam iḍātalasthaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: He who was once awakened each day by the bards of Magadha and the Sūtas, chanting constant praises—he, radiant and mighty like Indra himself—now surely lies upon the bare earth, and in the last watch of the night is roused by the cries of flocks of birds. The verse underscores the reversal of fortune: royal honor and public acclaim give way to austere endurance, inviting reflection on impermanence and the disciplined acceptance of hardship.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the impermanence of worldly status: one who was formerly honored with daily courtly praise now endures the simplicity of sleeping on the ground and waking to birdsong. Ethically, it points to steadiness in dharma—accepting hardship without losing inner dignity.
The narrator contrasts Yudhiṣṭhira’s former royal life—awakened by professional bards—with his present condition in exile, where he lies on the earth and wakes in the final watch of night to the calls of birds, emphasizing the Pandavas’ changed circumstances.