Mahabharata 15.37.20 — Ashramavasika Parva, Adhyaya 37, Shloka 20

Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

तेषां तु पुरुषेन्द्राणां रुवतां रुदितस्वन:,वहाँ रोदन करते हुए उन पुरुषप्रवर पाण्डवोंके रोनेका शब्द महलके विस्तारसे अवरुद्ध हुए भूतल और आकाशकमें गूँजने लगा

Transliteration

teṣāṁ tu puruṣendrāṇāṁ ruvatāṁ ruditāsvaraḥ | mahālavistareṇāvaruddho bhūtale 'kāśe ca ghoṣam āgamat ||

Translation

କିନ୍ତୁ ସେହି ପୁରୁଷଶ୍ରେଷ୍ଠ, ବୃଷଭ-ସମ ରାଜାମାନଙ୍କର ରୋଦନଧ୍ୱନି—ପ୍ରାସାଦର ବିଶାଳ ବିସ୍ତାରରେ ଅବରୁଦ୍ଧ ଓ ମନ୍ଦ ହୋଇଥିଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ—ଭୂତଳରେ ପ୍ରସାରିତ ହୋଇ ଆକାଶରେ ପ୍ରତିଧ୍ୱନିତ ହେଲା।

Word by Word

• तेषाम्: of them
• तेषाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु

• पुरुषेन्द्राणाम्: of the best of men (kings/heroic men)
• पुरुषेन्द्राणाम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषेन्द्र
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• रुवताम्: of (those) crying/roaring
• रुवताम्: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: रु (धातु)
• Form: शतृ (present active participle), Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Plural

• रुदित-स्वनः: the sound of weeping (weeping-sound)
• रुदित-स्वनः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रुदितस्वन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Pāṇḍavas
• palace (mahāla)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the inevitability and universality of sorrow: even royal power and physical barriers cannot contain the consequences of loss. It implicitly points toward vairāgya (dispassion) and the ethical gravity of dharma-bound actions whose outcomes must be endured.

What is happening in the narrative?

The foremost men—identified in context as the Pāṇḍavas—are crying aloud. Their lament, though muffled by the palace’s vast structure, still reverberates widely, echoing across earth and sky, emphasizing the intensity of their grief.