Shloka 17

अर्जुन–युधिष्ठिर–विदुर संवादः

Arjuna and Yudhiṣṭhira instruct Vidura on honoring Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Devanagari script

त्वगस्थिभूत: परिशुष्कमांसो जटाजिनी वल्कलसंवृताडु: । स पार्थिवस्तत्र तपश्चचार महर्षिवत्तीव्रमपेतमोह:

Transliteration

tvag-asthi-bhūtaḥ pariśuṣka-māṁso jaṭājinī valkala-saṁvṛtāṅgaḥ | sa pārthivas tatra tapaś cacāra maharṣi-vat tīvrām apeta-mohaḥ ||

Translation

ਵੈਸ਼ੰਪਾਯਨ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ—ਰਾਜਾ ਧ੍ਰਿਤਰਾਸ਼ਟਰ ਦਾ ਮਾਸ ਸੁੱਕ ਗਿਆ ਸੀ; ਉਹ ਲਗਭਗ ਚਮੜੀ ਤੇ ਹੱਡੀਆਂ ਹੀ ਰਹਿ ਗਿਆ। ਸਿਰ ਉੱਤੇ ਜਟਾ, ਦੇਹ ਉੱਤੇ ਹਰਣ-ਚਮੜਾ ਅਤੇ ਵਲਕਲ ਧਾਰਨ ਕਰਕੇ ਉਹ ਨ੍ਰਿਪਤੀ ਮਹਰਿਸ਼ੀ ਵਾਂਗ ਤੀਖੀ ਤਪੱਸਿਆ ਕਰਨ ਲੱਗਾ; ਉਸ ਦਾ ਮੋਹ ਪੂਰੀ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ਦੂਰ ਹੋ ਚੁੱਕਾ ਸੀ।

Word by Word

• {'tvak': 'skin', 'asthi': 'bone', 'bhūtaḥ': 'become

• having become', 'pariśuṣka': 'completely dried up, emaciated', 'māṁsa': 'flesh', 'jaṭā': 'matted hair, ascetic locks', 'ajinī (ajina)': 'deerskin garment', 'valkala': 'bark-cloth, garment made of tree-bark', 'saṁvṛta-aṅgaḥ': 'with limbs/body covered', 'pārthivaḥ': 'king, ruler', 'tatra': 'there (in that place/forest hermitage setting)', 'tapas': 'austerity, ascetic discipline', 'cacāra': 'practised, undertook, engaged in', 'maharṣi-vat': 'like a great seer', 'tīvrām': 'intense, severe', 'apeta-mohaḥ': 'one whose delusion has departed

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• king (pārthiva)
• jaṭā (matted locks)
• ajina (deerskin)
• valkala (bark-garment)
• tapas (austerity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic pivot from worldly identity to disciplined renunciation: when attachment and भ्रम (moha) fall away, even a king can adopt the life of a sage, using austerity as a means of purification and inner clarity.

What is happening in the narrative?

Dhṛtarāṣṭra, now living away from the court, has become emaciated and adopts ascetic markers—matted hair, deerskin, and bark-cloth—while practising severe tapas in the forest, described as being free from delusion.