Shloka 34

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

Devanagari script

न शान्तिमधिगच्छामि दुःखशोकसमाहत: । इति मे चिन्तयानस्य पित: शान्तिर्न विद्यते,'ये सारी बातें याद करके मैं दिन-रात जलता रहता हूँ। दुःख और शोकसे पीड़ित होनेके कारण मुझे शान्ति नहीं मिलती है। पिताजी! इन्हीं चिन्ताओंमें पड़े-पड़े मुझे कभी शान्ति नहीं प्राप्त होती!

Transliteration

na śāntim adhigacchāmi duḥkhaśokasamāhataḥ | iti me cintayānasya pitaḥ śāntir na vidyate ||

Translation

ദുഃഖവും ശോകവും എന്നെ തകർത്തതിനാൽ ഞാൻ ശാന്തി പ്രാപിക്കുന്നില്ല. പിതാവേ! ഈ കാര്യങ്ങൾ തന്നെ ചിന്തിച്ചുകൊണ്ടിരിക്കുമ്പോൾ എനിക്ക് ശാന്തി എന്നൊന്നും ലഭ്യമല്ല.

Word by Word

नnot

शान्तिम्peace

अधिगच्छामिI attain / obtain

दुःख-शोक-समाहतःstruck/afflicted by sorrow and grief

इतिthus

मेof me / my

चिन्तयानस्यof me who is thinking/worrying

पितःO father

शान्तिःpeace

नnot

विद्यतेexists / is found

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

pita (father, addressed)

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?

Unprocessed grief and obsessive recollection of painful events obstruct inner peace; the verse highlights the ethical-psychological need for steadiness of mind and a dharmic way of working through sorrow rather than being consumed by it.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker reports a state of intense mental suffering: overwhelmed by duḥkha and śoka, he cannot find śānti, and confesses to his father that constant brooding over these thoughts prevents any calm.