Shloka 6

Devanagari script

मनुष्यसम्भवा वाचो विधर्मिण्य: प्रतिश्रुता:,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

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca |

manuṣya-sambhavā vāco vidharmiṇyaḥ pratiśrutāḥ |

dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||

Translation

“मानवी दुर्बलतेतून निघालेली वाणी—धर्मापासून ढळलेल्या प्रतिज्ञा—त्या कशा फळ देतील?” ही आपत्ती पाहून महाबाहु धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिर शोकाने संतप्त होऊन दीर्घकाळ विलाप करू लागले.

Word by Word

मनुष्यसम्भवाःarising from humans

वाचःwords, speech

विधर्मिण्यःunrighteous, contrary to dharma

प्रतिश्रुताःpromised, uttered (as a pledge)

धर्मपुत्रःDharma’s son (Yudhiṣṭhira)

महाबाहुःmighty-armed

विललापlamented

सुविस्तरम्at great length, extensively

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmaputra)

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 human speech and pledges can slip into vidharmic (dharma-deviating) territory under pressure, and it frames Yudhiṣṭhira’s prolonged lament as the moral-emotional consequence of such frailty and the collapse of righteous order.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that, in the wake of a disastrous scene, Yudhiṣṭhira (Dharmaputra) is overwhelmed and laments extensively; the emphasis is on his grief and the sense that prior words/pledges have turned contrary to dharma.