Shloka 13

Devanagari script

न नूनं विद्यते सत्यं मानुषे किंचिदेव हि । यत्र त्वं पुरुषव्याप्र शेषे पांसुषु रूषित:

Transliteration

na nūnaṁ vidyate satyaṁ mānuṣe kiṁcid eva hi | yatra tvaṁ puruṣavyāghra śeṣe pāṁsuṣu rūṣitaḥ ||

Translation

ପୁରୁଷବ୍ୟାଘ୍ର! ନିଶ୍ଚୟ ମନୁଷ୍ୟଲୋକରେ କିଛି ମଧ୍ୟ ସ୍ଥିର ସତ୍ୟ ନାହିଁ; ଯେଉଁଠି ତୁମ ପରି ବୀର ମଧ୍ୟ ଶେଷେ ଧୂଳିରେ ମଲିନ ହୋଇ ପଡ଼ିଛ।

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• नूनम्: surely, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नूनम्

• विद्यते: exists, is found
• Type: Verb
• Root: विद् (विद्+य)
• Form: Lat, present, Atmanepada, 3, singular

• सत्यम्: truth
• सत्यम्: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्य
• Form: neuter, nominative, singular

• मानुषे: in the human (world/realm)
• मानुषे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मानुष
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• किंचित्: anything, something at all
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किंचित्

• एव: only, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव

• हि: for, indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: nominative, singular

• पुरुषव्याघ्र: O tiger among men
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषव्याघ्र
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• शेषे: you lie, you rest
• Type: Verb
• Root: शी (शे)
• Form: Lat, present, Atmanepada, 2, singular

• पांसुषु: in the dust
• पांसुषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पांसु
• Form: masculine, locative, plural

• रूषितः: soiled, smeared
• Type: Adjective
• Root: रूषित
• Form: masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• puruṣavyāghra (addressed hero/king, unspecified in this verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the fragility of human greatness: even the noblest warrior-king can end up fallen and dust-covered, revealing the impermanence of worldly power and the need for sober ethical reflection amid war.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, reporting the battlefield aftermath, addresses a fallen hero as “tiger among men,” lamenting that in the human realm nothing seems truly lasting when such a great person lies at the end, smeared with dust.