Shloka 31
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
उज्छमप्राप्तवानेव ब्राह्मण: क्षुच्छूमान्वित: । स तथैव क्षुधाविष्ट: सार्ध परिजनेन ह
uccham aprāptavān eva brāhmaṇaḥ kṣucchūmān vitaḥ | sa tathaiva kṣudhāviṣṭaḥ sārdha-parijanena ha kṣapayāmāsa taṃ kālaṃ kṛcchra-prāṇo dvijottamaḥ |
ナクラは言った。「そのバラモンは飢えと焼けつく暑さに責め立てられながらも、わずかな食べ残しすら得られなかった。飢えに苛まれ、労苦に擦り減っても、一粒の穀さえ見いだせなかった。ゆえに彼は、頼る者すべてと共に、同じ欠乏のままその時日を耐え抜き、命をつなぐのも辛うじてであった。」
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic endurance: even when reduced to seeking mere scraps and finding none, the virtuous person bears hardship without abandoning restraint or duty, sustaining life with difficulty but without ethical collapse.
Nakula describes a Brahmin undergoing severe deprivation—afflicted by heat and hunger, unable to obtain even leftover food—who nevertheless passes the time together with his dependents, barely maintaining life through extreme hardship.