Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 283

Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting

Devanagari script

कथं द्रक्ष्यामि विधवा वधू: शोकपरिप्लुता: । “भला, मैं भाइयों और पुत्रोंकी उन शोकविह्नलला और दु:खमें डूबी हुई विधवा बहुओंको कैसे देख सकूँगा

Transliteration

kathaṁ drakṣyāmi vidhavā vadhūḥ śokapariplutāḥ |

Translation

संजय म्हणाला—“शोकाने व्याकुळ व दुःखात बुडालेल्या त्या विधवा सुनांना मी कसा पाहू?”

Word by Word

• कथम्: how?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कथम्
• Form: Avyaya

• द्रक्ष्यामि: shall see
• Type: Verb
• Root: दृश्
• Form: Lakara: Lृट् (simple future), Pada: Parasmaipada, Person: 1st, Number: Singular

• विधवाः: widowed
• विधवाः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विधवा
• Form: Gender: Feminine, Case: Nominative, Number: Plural

• वधूः: daughters-in-law / brides
• वधूः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: वधू
• Form: Gender: Feminine, Case: Accusative, Number: Plural

• शोकपरिप्लुताः: overwhelmed/immersed in grief
• शोकपरिप्लुताः: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोक-परिप्लुत
• Form: Gender: Feminine, Case: Nominative, Number: Plural

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• widowed daughters-in-law (vadhūḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the human cost of war: beyond victory and defeat, dharma must reckon with the suffering of families—especially the vulnerable—calling forth compassion and moral reflection.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the calamity of the war’s outcome, anticipates the scene at home and expresses anguish at the thought of facing the young women of the household who have become widows and are drowning in sorrow.