Mahabharata 3.37.28 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 37, Shloka 28

Vyāsa’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira: Pratismṛti-vidyā, Arjuna’s Aśtra-Quest, and the Move to Kāmyaka

Devanagari script

नूनं ते भ्रातर: सर्वे त्वत्कथाभि: प्रजागरे

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | nūnaṃ te bhrātaraḥ sarve tvat-kathābhiḥ prajāgare, vīravara! niścayaṃ hi tvad-gamanaṃ kṛtvā te sarve bhrātaraḥ jāgaritāḥ santaḥ punaḥ punaḥ tava parākramam eva kathayiṣyanti manasā ca vinodayiṣyanti | pārtha! dīrgha-kālaṃ tava pravāsaṃ gate 'smākaṃ mano na bhogeṣu na ca dhaneṣu lapiṣyate; asmin jīvite 'pi na kaścid rasaḥ śeṣyate | tvayā vinā vayam etābhiḥ vastubhiḥ santoṣaṃ na prāpsyāmaḥ | pārtha! asmākaṃ sarveṣāṃ sukha-duḥkhe jīvana-maraṇe rājya-aiśvarye ca tvayi eva āyatte | bharata-kula-tilaka! kuntī-kumāra! mayā tvam visṛṣṭaḥ; kalyāṇaṃ prāpnuhi ||

Translation

ヴァイシャンパーヤナは言った。「まことに、汝が去ったのち、最上の勇者よ、汝の兄弟たちは目覚めている時を、汝のことを語り、幾度も幾度も汝の武勲を述べて過ごし、それによって心を支え慰めるであろう。おおパールタよ、汝が長き流謫に旅立てば、我らの心は享楽にも富にも喜びを見いださず、命そのものさえ味わいを失ったかのように思われる。汝なくしては、これらの何ものにも満ち足りぬ。われらすべての喜びと悲しみ、生と死、王家の幸運と主権は、ただ汝一人にかかっている。バラタ族の飾り、クンティーの子よ、我は汝に暇を与えた—行け、そして安寧を得よ。」

Word by Word

• नूनम्: surely, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नूनम्

• ते: of you, your
• ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• भ्रातरः: brothers
• भ्रातरः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: भ्रातृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• सर्वे: all
• सर्वे: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• त्वत्-कथाभिः: by/with talk about you
• त्वत्-कथाभिः: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: त्वत् + कथा
• Form: Feminine, Instrumental, Plural

• प्रजागरे: in wakefulness, while awake
• प्रजागरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रजागर
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• वीरवर: O best of heroes
• Type: Noun
• Root: वीरवर
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Arjuna (Pārtha, Kuntī-kumāra)
• Arjuna's brothers (the Pāṇḍavas collectively)
• Bharata lineage (Bharata-kula)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage underscores the ethical weight of kinship and duty: a hero’s presence sustains not merely material success but the morale and stability of the family. It also implies that pleasures and wealth are secondary when dharma-bound relationships and shared responsibility are strained by exile.

What is happening in the narrative?

A narrator reports words addressed to Arjuna as he departs for a long exile. The speaker predicts that Arjuna’s brothers will stay awake speaking of his valor, and declares that their joy, contentment, and even royal fortune feel dependent on him, before formally granting him leave and wishing him auspiciousness.