Shloka 6

Devanagari script

युधिछिर उवाच वदन्ति पुरुषा मेउद्य गड्जातीरनिवासिन: । धृतराष्ट्र महात्मानमास्थितं परमं तप:

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca

vadanti puruṣā me ’dya gaṅgātīrani-vāsinaḥ |

dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ mahātmānam āsthitaṃ paramaṃ tapaḥ ||

Translation

யுதிஷ்டிரர் கூறினார்—இன்று கங்கைத் துறையில் வாழும் மக்கள் எனக்குச் சொல்கிறார்கள்: மகாத்மா திருதராஷ்டிரர் பரம தவத்தை மேற்கொண்டுள்ளார் என்று.

Word by Word

युधिष्ठिरःYudhiṣṭhira

उवाचsaid

वदन्तिthey say

पुरुषाःmen, people

मेof me, my

उद्यtoday / now (indecl.)

गङ्गातीरनिवासिनःdwellers on the bank of the Gaṅgā

धृतराष्ट्रम्Dhṛtarāṣṭra

महात्मानम्the great-souled (one)

आस्थितम्having undertaken / abiding in

परमम्supreme, highest

तपःausterity, penance

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Gaṅgā (river)

Gaṅgā riverbank dwellers (gaṅgātīranivāsinaḥ)

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?

Even those burdened by past errors and the consequences of power can turn toward dharma through tapas—self-restraint, simplicity, and sincere moral reckoning. The verse frames austerity as an ethical response to life’s entanglements, not merely a ritual act.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira reports what he has heard from people living by the Gaṅgā: Dhṛtarāṣṭra has taken up severe ascetic practice. This signals Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s withdrawal from courtly life into an āśrama-like discipline, a key movement of the Āśramavāsika narrative.