Shloka 8

धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा—व्यासोपदेशः

Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Collapse and Vyāsa’s Counsel

Devanagari script

येन दह्ान्ति गात्राणि येन प्रज्ञा विनश्यति । येनाभिभूत: पुरुषो मरणं बहु मन्यते,इति श्रीमहाभारते स्त्रीपर्वणि जलप्रदानिकपर्वणि धृतराष्ट्रविशोककरणे अष्टमोडथ्याय: इस प्रकार श्रीमह्ाभारत स्त्रीपर्वके अन्तर्गत जलप्रदानिकपर्वमें धृतराष््रके शीकका निवारणविषयक आठवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ

Transliteration

yena dahyanti gātrāṇi yena prajñā vinaśyati | yenābhibhūtaḥ puruṣo maraṇaṃ bahu manyate |

Translation

വൈശമ്പായനൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഏത് ദുഃഖം കൊണ്ടാണ് അവയവങ്ങൾ ദഹിക്കുന്നത്, ഏത് ദുഃഖം കൊണ്ടാണ് വിവേകം നശിക്കുന്നത്—അതാൽ അഭിഭൂതനായ മനുഷ്യൻ മരണത്തെയേ തന്നെ മഹത്തായ (വരണീയമായ) കാര്യമെന്നു കരുതുന്നു.

Word by Word

• {'yena': 'by which

• through which (instrumental relative pronoun)', 'dahyanti': 'are burned, are scorched (present, passive/ātmanepada sense)', 'gātrāṇi': 'limbs, body-parts', 'prajñā': 'understanding, discernment, practical wisdom', 'vinaśyati': 'perishes, is ruined, is destroyed', 'abhibhūtaḥ': 'overpowered, overwhelmed, subdued', 'puruṣaḥ': 'a man, person', 'maraṇam': 'death', 'bahu': 'much

• as something weighty/important', 'manyate': 'thinks, considers, regards'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Extreme sorrow and inner affliction can ‘burn’ the body and destroy discernment; when wisdom collapses under grief, a person may begin to see death as desirable. The verse highlights the ethical need for steadiness, counsel, and restraint in mourning so that despair does not eclipse right judgment.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Strīparvan’s section concerned with alleviating Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s grief, Vaiśampāyana describes the crushing force of anguish: it torments the body and ruins clear understanding, leading the overwhelmed person to contemplate death as a relief.