Shloka 19

Devanagari script

कौतूहलं चापि हि मे एकान्तगमनेन ते । नैतत्‌ कारणमल्पं हि भविष्यति पितामह,पितामह! आपके एकान्तमें जानेसे मेरे मनमें बड़ा कौतूहल पैदा हुआ। मैंने सोचा, इसका कोई छोटा-मोटा कारण नहीं होगा

Transliteration

kautūhalaṃ cāpi hi me ekāntagamanena te | naitat kāraṇam alpaṃ hi bhaviṣyati pitāmaha ||

Translation

പിതാമഹാ! നിങ്ങൾ ഏകാന്തത്തിലേക്ക് പോയത് എന്റെ മനസ്സിൽ വലിയ കൗതുകം ഉണർത്തി. ഇത് ചെറുതായ കാരണമല്ല; ഇതിന് പിന്നിൽ തീർച്ചയായും ഗൗരവമുള്ള കാരണം ഉണ്ടെന്ന് തോന്നുന്നു.

Word by Word

कौतूहलम्curiosity, wonder

चand

अपिalso, even

हिindeed, for

मेof me, my

एकान्तगमनेनby (your) going to solitude

तेof you, your

नnot

एतत्this

कारणम्reason, cause

अल्पम्small, insignificant

हिindeed, surely

भविष्यतिwill be

पितामहO grandsire

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

प

पितामह (Pitāmaha, ‘Grandfather’—honorific addressee)

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 a dharmic attitude of attentive inquiry: a significant withdrawal into solitude is presumed to have a serious ethical or spiritual motive, not a trivial impulse. It models respectful questioning before judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma (speaking as ‘Pitāmaha’) addresses an elder as ‘Grandfather’ and remarks that the other person’s retreat into seclusion has aroused his curiosity; he suspects there is an important reason behind it, setting up further explanation or counsel.