Shloka 276

बभ्रुवाहन-धनंजययोः संग्रामः

Babhruvāhana and Dhanaṃjaya’s engagement at Maṇipūra

Devanagari script

क्वासाविति ततो राजन्‌ दुःशला वाक्यमत्रवीत्‌ । राजन! दुःशलाके ऐसा कहनेपर अर्जुनने उस बालकके पिताके विषयमें जिज्ञासा प्रकट करते हुए पूछा--“बहिन! सुरथ कहाँ है?' तब दुःशला बोली--

Transliteration

kvāsāv iti tato rājan duḥśalā vākyam abravīt |

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ, ഹേ രാജാവേ, ദുഃശലാ ഇങ്ങനെ പറഞ്ഞു. ദുഃശലയുടെ വാക്കുകൾ കേട്ട അർജുനൻ ആ ബാലന്റെ പിതാവിനെക്കുറിച്ച് ജിജ്ഞാസ പ്രകടിപ്പിച്ച് ചോദിച്ചു—“സഹോദരീ, സുരഥ എവിടെയാണ്?” അപ്പോൾ ദുഃശലാ പറഞ്ഞു—

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'kvā', 'definition': 'where?'}, {'term': 'asau', 'definition': 'that person

• he (there)'}, {'term': 'iti', 'definition': 'thus

• indicating quoted speech'}, {'term': 'tataḥ', 'definition': 'then

• thereafter'}, {'term': 'rājan', 'definition': 'O king (vocative address)'}, {'term': 'Duḥśalā', 'definition': 'Duḥśalā (name of a woman, sister of the Kuru princes)'}, {'term': 'vākyam', 'definition': 'speech

• words'}, {'term': 'abravīt', 'definition': 'said

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Duḥśalā
• Arjuna
• Suratha
• King (listener addressed as rājan)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights dharmic attentiveness within family bonds: Arjuna’s inquiry about the child’s father reflects responsibility and compassion, while Duḥśalā’s response marks the ethical importance of truthful disclosure in resolving a familial and social situation.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana narrates a brief transition: Arjuna asks his sister Duḥśalā where Suratha is, and Duḥśalā begins to answer, setting up the next part of the episode concerning the child’s parentage and related circumstances.