Shloka 29

अध्याय १: महाप्रस्थानारम्भः

The Commencement of the Great Departure

Devanagari script

पाण्डवाश्न महात्मानो द्रौपदी च यशस्विनी । कृतोपवासा: कौरव्य प्रययु: प्राडमुखास्तत:,कुरुनन्दन! तदनन्तर महात्मा पाण्डवक और यशस्विनी द्रौपदीदेवी सब-के-सब उपवासका व्रत लेकर पूर्वदिशाकी ओर मुँह करके चल दिये

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca | pāṇḍavāś ca mahātmāno draupadī ca yaśasvinī | kṛtopavāsāḥ kauravya prayayuḥ prāṅmukhās tataḥ ||

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—അപ്പോൾ മഹാത്മാക്കളായ പാണ്ഡവരും യശസ്വിനിയായ ദ്രൗപദിയും ഉപവാസവ്രതം സ്വീകരിച്ച് കിഴക്കോട്ടു മുഖം തിരിച്ച് അവിടെ നിന്ന് പുറപ്പെട്ടു.

Word by Word

पाण्डवाःthe Pandavas

चand

महात्मानःgreat-souled (ones)

द्रौपदीDraupadi

चand

यशस्विनीrenowned, illustrious

कृतोपवासाःhaving undertaken fasting (having performed a fast)

कौरव्यO descendant of Kuru (Kauravya)

प्रययुःthey set out / departed

प्राङ्मुखाःfacing east (with faces turned eastward)

ततःthen, thereafter

कुरुनन्दनO joy of the Kurus

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāṇḍavas

Draupadī

Kauravya (descendant of Kuru; addressee)

East (pūrva diś)

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 highlights dharmic renunciation: even those who have fulfilled worldly duties embrace self-restraint (upavāsa) and proceed with deliberate resolve. Austerity here functions as ethical purification and a conscious turning away from attachment at life’s end.

What is happening in the narrative?

After arranging the kingdom’s succession, the Pāṇḍavas and Draupadī begin their Mahāprasthāna (great departure). They take up fasting as a vow and start walking eastward, marking the commencement of their final, ascetic journey.