Shloka 44

Udyoga Parva 142: Vidura’s warning to Kuntī and Kuntī’s resolve to meet Karṇa

Gaṅgātīra encounter begins

Devanagari script

अगस्त्यशास्तां च दिशं प्रयाता: सम जनार्दन । अचिरेणैव कालेन प्राप्स्यामो यमसादनम्‌

Transliteration

sañjaya uvāca |

agastyāśāstāṃ ca diśaṃ prayātāḥ sama janārdana |

acireṇaiva kālena prāpsyāmo yamasādanam ||

Translation

สัญชัยกล่าวว่า “โอ้ชนารทนะ เรากำลังมุ่งสู่ทิศใต้ซึ่งอยู่ใต้การครอบครองของอคัสตยะ ในเวลาไม่นานนัก เราจักไปถึงสำนักของยมะ”

Word by Word

• {'sañjaya uvāca': 'Sanjaya said', 'agastya': 'Agastya (sage associated with the southern direction)', 'āśāstāṃ (āśās-tām)': 'ruled over, presided over', 'diśam': 'direction, quarter', 'prayātāḥ': 'having set out, going forth', 'sama': 'together, along with (addressing/including the listener in the situation)', 'janārdana': 'Janardana (epithet of Krishna

• ‘chastiser of the wicked/afflicter of men’)', 'acireṇa': 'before long, soon', 'eva': 'indeed, certainly', 'kālena': 'in time

• within a period', 'prāpsyāmaḥ': 'we shall reach/attain', 'yamasādanam': 'the abode/seat of Yama (death

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Janardana (Krishna)
• Agastya
• Yama
• southern direction (dakṣiṇā diś)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores the ethical warning that when conflict is pursued through stubbornness and adharma, the outcome swiftly tends toward ruin; ominous signs function as moral prompts to restrain violence and return to dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya addresses Krishna (Janardana) with a foreboding declaration: they are moving toward the southern quarter associated with Agastya and, symbolically, toward Yama’s abode—an omen that death is near and the impending war will bring rapid destruction.