Shloka 19

अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः

Devanagari script

पड़ोरिवाध्वगमनं दरिद्रस्पेव कामितम्‌

Transliteration

paḍor ivādhvagamanaṁ daridrasyeva kāmitam

Translation

ドリタラーシュトラは言った。「この前進は、疲れ果てた旅人の重い足取りのようだ—貧しき者の切なる望みのように。強いられ、苦しく、喜びよりも必要に駆られて進むのだ。」

Word by Word

• पदोः: of (two) feet
• पदोः: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Dual

• इव: as/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• अध्वगमनम्: journeying on the road; travel
• अध्वगमनम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अध्वगमन
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

• दरिद्रस्य: of a poor man
• दरिद्रस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: दरिद्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• इव: as/like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• कामितम्: desired; wished-for
• कामितम्: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कामित
• Form: Neuter, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how actions driven by compulsion, fear, or lack—rather than dharmic clarity—feel burdensome and joyless. It underscores the ethical cost of choices that lead to inevitable suffering, especially in war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of the war’s grim progress, expresses a heavy, anxious reaction. He compares the war’s onward movement to two painful forms of necessity: a weary traveler forced to keep walking and a poor man’s aching desire.