Shloka 24

Adhyāya 6: Kaṅka (Yudhiṣṭhira) Seeks Refuge in Virāṭa’s Assembly

Devanagari script

व्याधिं मृत्युं भयं चैव पूजिता नाशयिष्यसि । सो5हं राज्यात्‌ परिभ्रष्ट: शरणं त्वां प्रपन्नचान्‌

Transliteration

vyādhiṁ mṛtyuṁ bhayaṁ caiva pūjitā nāśayiṣyasi | so 'haṁ rājyāt paribhraṣṭaḥ śaraṇaṁ tvāṁ prapannaś ca ||

Translation

వైశంపాయనుడు పలికెను—సక్రమంగా పూజింపబడినప్పుడు నీవు వ్యాధి, మృతి, భయములను నశింపజేస్తావు. నేను—రాజ్యమునుండి విసర్జితుడనై—నీ శరణు పొందితిని; నీ రక్షణకు నన్ను సమర్పించుకొంటున్నాను.

Word by Word

व्याधिम्disease

मृत्युम्death

भयम्fear

चand

एवindeed/just

पूजिताbeing worshipped/honoured

नाशयिष्यसिyou will destroy/remove

सःhe/that (I as that one)

अहम्I

राज्यात्from the kingdom

परिभ्रष्टःfallen away/ousted

शरणम्refuge

त्वाम्you

प्रपन्नःhaving taken refuge/surrendered

चand

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights śaraṇāgati (seeking refuge): when a worthy protector is honored and approached with humility, they are expected to remove fear and calamity; ethically, it frames protection of the surrendered as a duty and surrender as a legitimate response to loss and danger.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Virāṭa-parvan context, a dispossessed person speaks in a posture of dependence—declaring himself fallen from kingship and seeking shelter—while praising the addressee’s power to avert disease, death, and fear if properly honored.