Shloka 3

Devanagari script

उत्तीर्य तु महाबाहुर्बाष्पव्याकुललोचन: । पपात तीरे गड़ाया व्याधविद्ध इव द्विप:,बाहर निकलकर विशालबाहु युधिष्ठिर गंगाजीके तटपर व्याथके बाणोंसे बिंधे हुए गजराजके समान गिर पड़े। उस समय उनके दोनों नेत्रोंसे आँसुओंकी धारा बह रही थी

Transliteration

uttīrya tu mahābāhur bāṣpa-vyākula-locanaḥ | papāta tīre gaṅgāyā vyādha-viddha iva dvipaḥ ||

Translation

Выйдя (из реки), могучерукий Юдхиштхира — с глазами, затуманенными и переполненными слезами, — рухнул на берегу Ганги, словно великий слон, поражённый стрелой охотника. Эта картина подчёркивает: даже праведный царь, несущий нравственную тяжесть прежнего насилия и ответственности, может быть телесно сломлен горем.

Word by Word

उत्तीर्यhaving crossed (over), having come out

तुbut/indeed

महाबाहुःthe mighty-armed (one)

बाष्पव्याकुललोचनःwhose eyes were distressed/blurred with tears

पपातfell

तीरेon the bank/shore

गङ्गायाःof the Ganga

व्याधविद्धःpierced by a hunter

इवlike/as if

द्विपःan elephant

Speaker

वैशमग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Yudhiṣṭhira

Gaṅgā (river)

tīra (riverbank)

vyādha (hunter)

dvipa (elephant)

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 the ethical and emotional cost of power and conflict: even a dharmic ruler may be overwhelmed by remorse and sorrow, and true righteousness includes acknowledging suffering rather than masking it.

What is happening in the narrative?

After emerging from the Gaṅgā, Yudhiṣṭhira—eyes streaming with tears—falls on the riverbank, compared to an elephant felled by a hunter’s arrow, signaling intense grief and exhaustion.