Shloka 3

Devanagari script

स दीर्घमुष्णं नि:श्वस्य शोकबाष्पपरिप्लुत: । तान्‌ दृष्टवा पतितान्‌ भ्रातृन्‌ सर्वाश्विन्तासमन्वितः,धर्मपुत्रो महाबाहुर्विललाप सुविस्तरम्‌ । अर्जुन मरे पड़े थे; उनके धनुष-बाण इधर-उधर बिखरे थे। भीमसेन और नकुल-सहदेव भी प्राणरहित हो निश्रेष्ट हो गये थे। इन सबको देखकर युधिष्ठिर गरम-गरम लंबी साँसें खींचने लगे। उनके नेत्रोंसे शोकके आँसू उमड़कर उन्हें भिगो रहे थे। अपने समस्त भ्राताओंको इस प्रकार धराशायी हुए देख महाबाह धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिर गहरी चिन्तामें डूब गये और देरतक विलाप करते रहे--

Transliteration

sa dīrgham uṣṇaṁ niḥśvasya śokabāṣpapariplutaḥ | tān dṛṣṭvā patitān bhrātṝn sarvāśvintāsamanvitaḥ dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||

Translation

शोकाश्रूंनी भिजलेला तो दीर्घ, उष्ण नि:श्वास टाकून, पडलेले भाऊ पाहून आणि अनेक शंकांनी ग्रासून, महाबाहू धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिर दीर्घकाळ विलाप करू लागला।

Word by Word

सःhe

दीर्घम्long (breath)

उष्णम्hot, heated

निःश्वस्यhaving sighed/breathed out

शोक-बाष्प-परिप्लुतःflooded/soaked with tears of grief

तान्those (men)

दृष्ट्वाhaving seen

पतितान्fallen

भ्रातॄन्brothers

सर्व-आश्वास-समन्वितःendowed with all (kinds of) consolations/comforts (i.e., yet overcome despite them)

धर्मपुत्रःDharma’s son (Yudhiṣṭhira)

महाबाहुःmighty-armed

विललापlamented

सुविस्तरम्at great length, extensively

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmaputra)

brothers (bhrātṛ)

Arjuna (contextual, from accompanying prose)

Bhīmasena (contextual, from accompanying prose)

Nakula (contextual, from accompanying prose)

Sahadeva (contextual, from accompanying prose)

bow and arrows (contextual, from accompanying prose)

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 how even the most dharma-oriented person is shaken when duty and kinship collide with catastrophe. Yudhiṣṭhira’s tears and ‘hot sigh’ portray the moral and emotional burden of leadership: righteousness is tested not in calm, but amid loss, fear, and responsibility for one’s own.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira sees his brothers lying fallen. Overcome with grief and anxious thoughts, he exhales long, burning sighs, is drenched in tears, and laments for a long time.