Shloka 46

Subhadrā-vilāpaḥ — Subhadrā’s Lament for Abhimanyu

Droṇa-parva 55

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मचर्यश्रुतिमुखे: सर्वैदनिश्च सर्वदा । शयनासनयानानि स्वर्णराशीश्व दुस्त्यजा:

Transliteration

brahmacaryaśrutimukheḥ sarvaidanīś ca sarvadā | śayanāsanayānāni svarṇarāśiṣv adustyajāḥ ||

Translation

ಬ್ರಹ್ಮಚರ್ಯ ಮತ್ತು ಶ್ರುತಿವಿದ್ಯೆಯ ಮುಂಚೂಣಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಿಂತವರಿಗೂ—ನಿಜವಾಗಿ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ, ಯಾವಾಗಲೂ—ಶಯನ, ಆಸನ, ವಾಹನಗಳು ಹಾಗೂ ಸ್ವರ್ಣರಾಶಿಗಳಂತಹ ಸೌಖ್ಯಗಳನ್ನು ತ್ಯಜಿಸುವುದು ದುಸ್ತರವೇ.

Word by Word

ब्रह्मचर्यश्रुतिमुखेःof one whose foremost (aim) is brahmacarya and Vedic learning

सर्वैःby all (means/people)

एवindeed/only

निश्चand certainly (emphatic particle)

सर्वदाalways

शयनासनयानानिbeds, seats, and vehicles

स्वर्णराशीषुin heaps of gold

दुस्त्यजाःhard to abandon

Speaker

(नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

śruti (Vedic revelation)

śayana (beds)

āsana (seats)

yāna (vehicles)

svarṇa-rāśi (heaps of gold)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that attachment to comfort and wealth is a powerful obstacle: even disciplined, learned people can struggle to renounce beds, seats, vehicles, and gold. Ethical life therefore requires vigilant self-restraint and conscious detachment, not merely knowledge or vows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is speaking in a didactic mode, offering a general moral observation within the Drona Parva context: he highlights how worldly enjoyments and riches remain difficult to give up, reinforcing a lesson about the inner challenges that persist even amid outward discipline.