Shloka 11

Devanagari script

न लज्जसे कथं वक्तुं समितिं प्राप्प शोभनाम्‌ । कथं च शतधा जिद्ला न ते मूर्धा च दीर्यते

Transliteration

na lajjase kathaṁ vaktuṁ samitiṁ prāpya śobhanām | kathaṁ ca śatadhā jīrṇā na te mūrdhā ca dīryate ||

Translation

సంజయుడు అన్నాడు—ఆ ప్రకాశవంతమైన సభకు వచ్చి నీవు ఇలా ఎలా మాట్లాడగలుగుతున్నావు, సిగ్గుపడకపోవడం ఎలా? నీ నాలుక శతధా ఎందుకు చీలదు, నీ తల ఎందుకు పగలదు?

Word by Word

नnot

लज्जसेyou are ashamed

कथम्how?

वक्तुम्to speak

समितिम्battle, assembly (of war)

प्राप्यhaving reached/attained

शोभनाम्splendid, glorious

कथम्how?

चand

शतधाinto a hundred pieces; a hundredfold

जिह्वाtongue

नnot

तेyour

मूर्धाhead

चand

दीर्यतेis split/burst

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames unethical or shameless speech as a moral failing: in an honorable assembly (or solemn public setting), one must speak with integrity and accountability; otherwise, one deserves censure for lacking shame and self-restraint.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya delivers a sharp rebuke to an unnamed interlocutor, questioning how that person can speak without shame in a distinguished gathering and how their head does not ‘split’ from the weight of disgrace—an idiom for extreme moral reproach.