Mahabharata 15.37.153 — Ashramavasika Parva, Adhyaya 37, Shloka 153

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

Devanagari script

वृथाग्निना समायुक्तो निष्ठां प्राप्त: पिता मम । हाय, उस महान्‌ वनमें मन्त्रोंसे पवित्र हुई अग्नियोंके रहते हुए भी मेरे ताऊ लौकिक अग्निसे दग्ध होकर क्‍यों मृत्युको प्राप्त हुए?

Transliteration

vṛthāgninā samāyukto niṣṭhāṃ prāptaḥ pitā mama | hāya, asmin mahān vane mantrebhyaḥ pavitrīkṛtāgnīnāṃ saty api mama tātaḥ laukikāgninā dagdhaḥ kathaṃ mṛtyuṃ prāptaḥ?

Translation

Yudhiṣṭhira disse: “Ai de mim! Meu pai alcançara a firmeza e estava unido ao fogo sagrado. E, no entanto, como é que, naquela grande floresta—onde havia fogos santificados por mantras—meu tio encontrou a morte, queimado por um fogo comum, mundano? Que sentido tem isso?”

Word by Word

• वृथा: in vain; uselessly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वृथा

• अग्निना: by/with fire
• अग्निना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• समायुक्तः: joined/connected (with)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सम्-आ-युज्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, kta (past passive participle)

• निष्ठाम्: firm resolve; final state; completion
• निष्ठाम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: निष्ठा
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• प्राप्तः: having attained; reached
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र-आप्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular, kta (past active sense here)

• पिता: father
• पिता: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पितृ
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मम: of me; my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Pāṇḍu (as 'my father')
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (as 'my uncle')
• Agni (fire)
• Mahāvana (the great forest)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the tension between spiritual attainment and the unpredictability of worldly events: even those living in sanctity and discipline remain subject to impermanence. It also reflects an ethical inquiry—Yudhiṣṭhira seeks a dharmic explanation for suffering that seems to contradict the presence of sacred protections.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira laments and questions how his uncle (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), dwelling in the forest with ascetic practices and sacred fires, could nevertheless die in a common forest conflagration. His grief is sharpened by the contrast between mantra-sanctified ritual fire and the destructive ‘ordinary’ fire that caused death.