Mahabharata 7.182.6 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 182, Shloka 6

Devanagari script

अतिहर्षोडयमस्थाने तवाद्य मधुसूदन । शोकस्थाने तु सम्प्राप्ते हैडिम्बस्य वधेन तु

Transliteration

atihārṣo ’yam asthāne tavādya madhusūdana | śokasthāne tu samprāpte haiḍimbasya vadhena tu ||

Translation

మధుసూదన! ఈ రోజు నీకు ఈ అతిహర్షం అనుచిత సమయంలో కలిగింది. హిడింబ కుమారుడైన హైడింబుడు (ఘటోత్కచుడు) వధింపబడినందున మాకు ఇది శోకకాలం.

Word by Word

• अतिहर्षः: excessive joy
• अतिहर्षः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अतिहर्ष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उदयम्: arising; manifestation
• उदयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अस्थाने: at an improper time/place; out of place
• अस्थाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्थान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तव: of you; your
• तव: Adhikarana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: —, Genitive, Singular

• अद्य: today; now
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य
• Form: true

• मधुसूदन: O slayer of Madhu (Krishna)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मधुसूदन
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• शोकस्थाने: in a situation of grief
• शोकस्थाने: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शोकस्थान
• Form: Neuter, Locative, Singular

• तु: but; indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु
• Form: true

• सम्प्राप्ते: when (it) has come/occurred
• सम्प्राप्ते: Adhikarana
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-प्र-आप्
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Locative, Singular

• हैडिम्बस्य: of (the son of) Hidimba / of Haidimba (Ghaṭotkaca)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हैडिम्ब
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• वधेन: by the killing; through the slaying
• वधेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: वध
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• तु: indeed; however
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु
• Form: true

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)
• Haiḍimba (Ghaṭotkaca)
• Hiḍimbā

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights ethical discernment about emotional propriety: joy can be judged ‘out of place’ when it appears amid another’s loss. In the war narrative, it also points to the tension between personal grief and strategic necessity—how outcomes that are tactically advantageous may still be morally and emotionally painful.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya addresses Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana), remarking that Kṛṣṇa seems unusually pleased even though the immediate event is the death of Haiḍimba—i.e., Ghaṭotkaca, the powerful son of Hiḍimbā. For those aligned with him, it is a moment of mourning, and Sañjaya frames Kṛṣṇa’s reaction as occurring at an inappropriate time.