Shloka 3

धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति व्यवहार-रक्षा-नियमनोपदेशः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Instruction on Administration, Punishment, and Daily Governance

Devanagari script

धृतराष्ट्री महाराजो वनवासाय दीक्षित: । गमिष्यति वन राजन्नागतां कार्तिकीमिमाम्‌,“राजन! महाराज धृतराष्ट्र वनवासकी दीक्षा ले चुके हैं। इसी कार्तिकी पूर्णिमाको जो कि अब निकट आ पहुँची है, वे वनकी यात्रा करेंगे

Transliteration

vaiśampāyana uvāca |

dhṛtarāṣṭrī mahārājo vanavāsāya dīkṣitaḥ |

gamiṣyati vana rājann āgatāṃ kārtikīm imām ||

Translation

‘அரசே! மகாராஜா திருதராஷ்டிரன் வனவாசத்திற்குத் தீட்சை பெற்றுள்ளார். நெருங்கிய கார்த்திகி (பௌர்ணமி) வந்தவுடன் அவர் வனத்திற்குப் புறப்படுவார்.’

Word by Word

धृतराष्ट्रीDhṛtarāṣṭra

महाराजःthe great king

वनवासायfor forest-dwelling (for going to live in the forest)

दीक्षितःinitiated / consecrated (having taken the vow)

गमिष्यतिwill go

वनम्to the forest

राजन्O king

आगताम्arrived / having come

कार्तिकीम्Kārttikī (of the month Kārttika)

इमाम्this

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Kārtikī (Kārtika full-moon time)

forest (vana)

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 a dharmic transition from royal life to disciplined renunciation: a king, burdened by past events, undertakes a vowed forest-dwelling as an act of restraint, purification, and acceptance of life’s moral consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana informs the listener-king that Dhṛtarāṣṭra has already taken the formal vow (dīkṣā) for vanavāsa and will depart for the forest when the imminent Kārtikī time arrives.