Shloka 4

धौन्धुमारोपाख्यानम्

Dhaundhumāra-Upākhyāna: The Slaying of Dhundhu and the Epithet ‘Dhundhumāra’

Devanagari script

क्रूर: कौरव्य मृदवे मृदुः क्रूरे च कौरव । साधुश्नासाधवे साधु: साधवे नाप्लुयात्‌ कथम्‌

Transliteration

krūraḥ kauravya mṛdave mṛduḥ krūre ca kaurava | sādhuś ca asādhave sādhuḥ sādhave nāpluyāt katham ||

Translation

Вайшампаяна сказал: «О потомок Куру, будь суров с суровым и кроток с кротким. Пусть добрый остаётся добрым даже к злодею; но как может добрый не быть добрым к доброму?»

Word by Word

क्रूरःcruel (one)

कौरव्यO Kauravya (descendant of Kuru)

मृदवेto/for the gentle (person)

मृदुःgentle (one)

क्रूरेin/with regard to a cruel (person)

चand

कौरवO Kaurava

साधुषुamong the good (people)

असाधवेto/for the bad (person)

साधुःa good (man)

साधवेto/for the good (person)

नnot

आप्लुयात्should swim/ford; should cross over

कथम्how?

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Kaurava (a Kuru prince; addressed as kaurava/kauravya)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ethical discernment in conduct: respond firmly to cruelty and gently to gentleness, while maintaining the inner standard of goodness—especially, goodness naturally expresses itself toward the good.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana, in the course of his narration, addresses a Kuru prince with a maxim on proper behavior, contrasting how one should relate to the cruel, the gentle, the wicked, and the virtuous.