Shloka 34

दमयन्त्याः अरण्यविहारः — Damayantī’s Passage through the Wilderness

Devanagari script

पन्थानं हि ममाभीक्ष्णमाख्यासि च नरोत्तम । अतो निमित्तं शोकं मे वर्धयस्यमरोपम,नरश्रेष्ट! आप बार-बार जो मुझे विदर्भदेशका मार्ग बता रहे हैं। देवोपम आर्यपुत्र! इसके कारण आप मेरा शोक ही बढ़ा रहे हैं

Transliteration

panthānaṃ hi mamābhīkṣṇam ākhyāsi ca narottama | ato nimittaṃ śokaṃ me vardhayasy amaropama narśreṣṭha ||

Translation

Nala said: “O best of men, you keep telling me again and again the route (to my homeland). Because of that very reminder, O godlike, foremost of men, you only increase my sorrow.”

Word by Word

पन्थानम्path, route

हिindeed, for

ममof me, my

अभीक्ष्णम्repeatedly, again and again

आख्यासिyou tell, you point out

चand

नरोत्तमO best of men

अतःtherefore, from this

निमित्तम्cause, reason

शोकम्grief, sorrow

मेof me, my

वर्धयसिyou increase

अमर-उपमO one comparable to the immortals (gods)

नर-श्रेष्ठO best of men

Speaker

नल उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nala

Vidarbha (implied by the Hindi gloss: विदर्भदेश)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even well-meant speech can wound when it repeatedly reopens a fresh grief; ethical communication requires sensitivity to another’s emotional state, not only factual helpfulness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nala, overwhelmed by separation and loss, responds to a noble interlocutor who keeps pointing out the route toward Vidarbha; the repeated mention of the way home intensifies Nala’s sorrow rather than consoling him.