Shloka 16

अर्जुनस्य लक्ष्यवेधः

Arjuna’s Hitting of the Target at the Svayaṃvara

Devanagari script

आयुषा विप्रकृष्टेन यदा न: खेद आविशत्‌ | तदास्माभिरवर् धस्तात क्षत्रियैरीप्सित: स्वयम्‌,वत्स! जब हमारी आयु बहुत बड़ी हो गयी (और तब भी मौत नहीं आयी), उस दशामें हमलोगोंको (बड़ा) खेद हुआ और हमने (जान-बूझकर) क्षत्रियोंसे स्वयं अपना वध करानेकी इच्छा की

Transliteration

āyuṣā viprakṛṣṭena yadā naḥ kheda āviśat | tadāsmābhir avar dhastāt kṣatriyair īpsitaḥ svayam, vatsa |

Translation

వసిష్ఠుడు పలికెను—వత్సా! మా ఆయుష్షు అతిగా పొడవబడినప్పటికీ మరణం రాకపోవడంతో మాకు గాఢమైన విరక్తి కలిగింది. అప్పుడు, ప్రియ శిశువా, క్షత్రియుల చేతులమీదుగా మన వధ జరగాలని మేమే ఉద్దేశపూర్వకంగా కోరుకున్నాము.

Word by Word

आयुषाby/with lifespan

विप्रकृष्टेनgreatly prolonged/extended

यदाwhen

नःof us/our

खेदःgrief, distress

आविशत्entered, came upon

तदाthen

अस्माभिःby us

अवर्धतincreased, grew

तातdear one / father (address)

क्षत्रियैःby Kshatriyas

ईप्सितःdesired, wished-for

स्वयम्oneself, personally

वत्सdear child (address)

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

kṣatriyas

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?

Even extraordinary longevity can become a burden; the verse highlights the ethical tension between attachment to life and the acceptance of death, and it frames death as something to be met consciously rather than clung to or feared.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha explains that when he and his group found their lives unnaturally prolonged and felt deep fatigue, they intentionally wished to be killed by kṣatriyas—implying a deliberate choice to end life when it had become spiritually or existentially oppressive.