Shloka 46

Subhadrā-vilāpaḥ — Subhadrā’s Lament for Abhimanyu

Droṇa-parva 55

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मचर्यश्रुतिमुखे: सर्वैदनिश्च सर्वदा । शयनासनयानानि स्वर्णराशीश्व दुस्त्यजा:

Transliteration

brahmacaryaśrutimukheḥ sarvaidanīś ca sarvadā | śayanāsanayānāni svarṇarāśiṣv adustyajāḥ ||

Translation

ब्रह्मचर्यश्रुतिमुखेः सर्वैर्दनं च सर्वदा । शयनासनयानानि स्वर्णराशीश्च दुस्त्यजाः ॥

Word by Word

ब्रह्मचर्यश्रुतिमुखेःof one whose foremost (aim) is brahmacarya and Vedic learning

सर्वैःby all (means/people)

एवindeed/only

निश्चand certainly (emphatic particle)

सर्वदाalways

शयनासनयानानिbeds, seats, and vehicles

स्वर्णराशीषुin heaps of gold

दुस्त्यजाःhard to abandon

Speaker

(नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

śruti (Vedic revelation)

śayana (beds)

āsana (seats)

yāna (vehicles)

svarṇa-rāśi (heaps of gold)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that attachment to comfort and wealth is a powerful obstacle: even disciplined, learned people can struggle to renounce beds, seats, vehicles, and gold. Ethical life therefore requires vigilant self-restraint and conscious detachment, not merely knowledge or vows.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is speaking in a didactic mode, offering a general moral observation within the Drona Parva context: he highlights how worldly enjoyments and riches remain difficult to give up, reinforcing a lesson about the inner challenges that persist even amid outward discipline.