Mahabharata — Ashramavasika Parva, Shloka 47

अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal

Devanagari script

ये च शूरा महात्मान: श्वशुरा मे महारथा:

Transliteration

ye ca śūrā mahātmānaḥ śvaśurā me mahārathāḥ

Translation

ಮತ್ತು ಆ ಶೂರರು, ಮಹಾತ್ಮರು—ನನ್ನ ಶ್ವಶುರರು—ಮಹಾರಥಿಗಳು…

Word by Word

• ये: who (those who)
• ये: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• शूराः: heroes, brave men
• शूराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शूर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• महात्मानः: great-souled ones
• महात्मानः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• श्वशुराः: fathers-in-law
• श्वशुराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्वशुर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• मे: my, of me
• मे: Sambandha
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• महारथाः: great chariot-warriors
• महारथाः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: महारथ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The line underscores the ethical weight of kinship and obligation: even in a warrior narrative, relationships (such as fathers-in-law) remain morally significant, and remembrance of the noble dead frames the aftermath of conflict in terms of honor and responsibility.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana continues a recollective listing/mention of eminent persons connected by family ties and martial stature, identifying them as heroic, great-souled, and foremost chariot-warriors—setting a tone of memorialization within the post-war, renunciatory context of the Āśramavāsika Parva.