Mahabharata 11.2.20 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 20

Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

आत्मानमात्मना55श्वास्य मा शुचः पुरुषर्षभ । नाद्य शोकाभि भूतस्त्वं कायमुत्स्रष्टमहसि

Transliteration

ātmānam ātmanāśvāsya mā śucaḥ puruṣarṣabha | nādya śokābhibhūtas tvaṃ kāyam utsraṣṭum arhasi ||

Translation

โอ บุรุษผู้ประเสริฐ จงปลอบประโลมตนด้วยกำลังใจของตนเอง อย่าโศกเศร้าเลย วันนี้เมื่อถูกความโศกครอบงำ ท่านไม่ควรละทิ้งกาย (ยอมแพ้จนทำลายตนเอง)

Word by Word

• आत्मानम्: yourself (the self)
• आत्मानम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आत्मना: by yourself / with your own self
• आत्मना: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: आत्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• आश्वास्य: having consoled / having reassured
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-श्वस्
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund), Parasmaipada (usage)

• मा: do not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: मा

• शुचः: grieve
• Type: Verb
• Root: शुच्
• Form: Imperative (prohibitive with मा), Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

• पुरुषर्षभ: O bull among men
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष-ऋषभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• अद्य: today / now
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य

• शोकाभिभूतः: overcome by grief
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शोक-अभि-भूत
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• त्वम्: you
• त्वम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Nominative, Singular

• कायम्: the body
• कायम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: काय
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• उत्स्रष्टुम्: to abandon / to give up
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत्-सृज्
• Form: Infinitive (Tumun)

• अर्हसि: you ought / you are fit
• Type: Verb
• Root: अर्ह्
• Form: Present Indicative, Second, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• puruṣarṣabha (addressed person, unnamed in this verse)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

One should restrain grief through inner steadiness and self-governance; even in intense sorrow, abandoning life is not dharmic—endurance and composure are urged.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of calamity, Vidura addresses a grieving noble person, urging him to console himself, stop lamenting, and not succumb to despair that could lead to giving up his body.