Shloka 19

मधुकैटभवधोपाख्यानम्

The Account of the Slaying of Madhu and Kaiṭabha

Devanagari script

पुत्रदारविनाशो>त्र ज्ञातीनां सुह्दामपि । परेष्वायत्तताकृच्छूं कि नु दुःखतरं तत:,अपनी आँखोंके सामने स्त्री और पुत्रोंकी मृत्यु होती है। भाई-बन्धु आदि जातिके लोगों और सुहृदोंका सदाके लिये वियोग हो जाता है तथा जीवन-निर्वाहके लिये दूसरोंके अधीन रहकर उनके तिरस्कारका कष्ट भोगना पड़ता है। इससे बढ़कर महान्‌ दुःख और क्‍या हो सकता है?

Transliteration

putradāravināśo ’tra jñātīnāṃ suhṛdām api | pareṣv āyattatā kṛcchraṃ kiṃ nu duḥkhataraṃ tataḥ ||

Translation

バカーは言う。「この世では、妻子の滅びを自らの眼前で見ねばならぬ。親族や親しい友との別れも、やがて永遠のものとなる。しかも糧を得るためだけに他人に依り、苦難と屈辱を耐えねばならぬ。これ以上の悲しみがあろうか。」

Word by Word

पुत्रof sons

दारof wives

विनाशःdestruction, death

अत्रhere

ज्ञातीनाम्of kinsmen

सुहृदाम्of friends, well-wishers

अपिalso, even

परेषुin/under others

आयत्तताdependence (being subject)

कृच्छ्रम्hardship, distress

किम्what?

नुindeed, pray (interrogative particle)

दुःखतरम्more painful, more sorrowful

ततःthan that, from that

तत्that

Speaker

बक उवाच

Characters & Entities

ब

बक (Baka)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a hierarchy of human suffering: the loss of immediate family, permanent separation from one’s support network, and the degrading hardship of living in dependence on others. It implicitly warns that social and economic vulnerability can compound grief, making self-reliance and protection of family/community central ethical concerns.

What is happening in the narrative?

Baka is speaking about the extremity of misery experienced when one’s household is destroyed and one is forced into a dependent life among others, facing contempt. The statement functions as a lament and a rhetorical question to emphasize that such compounded losses represent the peak of worldly दुःख (sorrow).