Shloka 17

Devanagari script

गान्धार्याश्वैव यद दुःखं हृदि तिष्ठति नित्यदा

Transliteration

gāndhāryāś caiva yad duḥkhaṁ hṛdi tiṣṭhati nityadā

Translation

ಮತ್ತು ಗಾಂಧಾರಿಯ ದುಃಖ—ಅವಳ ಹೃದಯದಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿರುವ ಯಾವ ಶೋಕವೋ—ಅದು ಸದಾ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ತಂಗಿಯೇ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ।

Word by Word

गान्धार्याःof Gandhārī

एवindeed/just

यत्which/that (what)

दुःखम्sorrow, grief

हृदिin the heart

तिष्ठतिremains, stays

नित्यदाalways, at all times

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Gāndhārī

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 underscores the enduring nature of grief after catastrophic loss: even when life moves toward renunciation and forest-dwelling, inner sorrow can persist. Ethically, it points to the long moral and emotional consequences of adharma and war, which do not end with victory or defeat.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Āśramavāsika context, Vaiśampāyana is describing the inner state of the elders after the Kurukṣetra war. Here he highlights that Gāndhārī’s grief remains continually lodged in her heart, emphasizing her ongoing mourning for her sons and the devastation of the Kuru line.