Shloka 4

Dama-pradhāna-dharma (Self-restraint as the Root of Dharma) — Śānti-parva 154

Devanagari script

दुःखिता: केचिदादाय बालमप्राप्तयौवनम्‌ । कुलसर्वस्वभूतं वै रुदन्‍्त: शोकविह्दला:,जिसने युवावस्थामें अभी प्रवेश ही नहीं किया था तथा जो अपने कुलका सर्वस्व था, उस मरे हुए बालकको लेकर उसके कुछ दुखी बान्धव शोकसे व्याकुल हो फ़ूट-फ़ूटकर रोने लगे

Transliteration

duḥkhitāḥ kecid ādāya bālam aprāptayauvanam | kulasarvasvabhūtaṃ vai rudantaḥ śokavihvalāḥ ||

Translation

பீஷ்மர் கூறினார்—இன்னும் இளமைப் பருவத்திற்குள் நுழையாததும், குலத்தின் செல்வமாகக் கருதப்பட்டதும் ஆன அந்தச் சிறுவனின் உடலை எடுத்துக்கொண்டு சில உறவினர்கள் துயரால் கலங்கி உரக்க அழுதனர்.

Word by Word

दुःखिताःafflicted, sorrowful

केचित्some (persons)

आदायhaving taken

बालम्the child/boy

अप्राप्तयौवनम्who had not attained youth

कुलसर्वस्वभूतम्who was the very all-in-all of the family

वैindeed

रुदन्तःweeping, crying

शोकविह्वलाःoverwhelmed by grief

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhishma

kinsmen/relatives

child (boy)

family/lineage (kula)

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?

The verse highlights the intensity of human sorrow when death comes before life’s expected stages, especially when a child embodies a family’s hopes. It implicitly points to the ethical need for steadiness and compassion in the face of impermanence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhishma describes a poignant scene: relatives lift and carry the dead body of a boy who had not yet reached youth, and they cry loudly, shaken and overwhelmed by grief, because he was considered the family’s greatest treasure.