Shloka 196

Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)

Devanagari script

पाण्डवा: पज्च दु:खार्ता भूतानीव युगक्षये । यह सुनकर समस्त पाण्डव एक-दूसरेको हृदयसे लगाकर रोने लगे। जैसे प्रलयकालमें पाँचों भूत पीडित हो जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार उस समय पाँचों पाण्डव दुःखसे आतुर हो उठे

Transliteration

pāṇḍavāḥ pañca duḥkhārtā bhūtānīva yugakṣaye |

Translation

యుధిష్ఠిరుడు అన్నాడు—ఐదుగురు పాండవులు దుఃఖంతో బాధపడుతూ, యుగాంతంలో క్షోభించే పంచభూతాల వలె అయ్యారు. ఇది విని పాండవులందరూ పరస్పరం హృదయంతో ఆలింగనం చేసుకొని విలపించారు; ఆ క్షణంలో వారు ఐదుగురూ శోకాతురులై, ప్రళయకాలంలో పంచమహాభూతాలు బాధపడినట్లే కనిపించారు.

Word by Word

पाण्डवाःthe Pandavas

पञ्चfive

दुःखार्ताःafflicted by sorrow

भूतानिbeings; (here) elements

इवlike, as

युगक्षयेat the end of an age (at dissolution)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

य

युधिष्ठिर (Yudhiṣṭhira)

प

पाण्डवाः (the Pāṇḍavas)

प

पञ्च भूतानि (the five elements)

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 presents grief as a natural and dharmically honest response even for the righteous. By comparing the brothers’ sorrow to the five elements at the end of an age, it teaches that loss can feel world-ending, yet one must pass through mourning without abandoning restraint, solidarity, and the larger commitment to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

After hearing distressing news in the Āśramavāsika context, the Pāṇḍavas are overwhelmed. They embrace one another and weep, and Yudhiṣṭhira describes their condition with a cosmic simile: like the five elements shaken at the yuga’s end, the five brothers are shaken by grief.