Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 25
Devanagari script
अश्मसारमयं नूनं॑ हृदयं मम पार्थिवा:
Transliteration
aśmasāramayaṃ nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mama pārthivāḥ
Translation
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Tunay ngang bato at bakal ang aking puso, O mga hari—sapagkat hindi ito nababasag kahit matapos danasin ang ganitong dalamhati.”
Word by Word
अश्मसारमयम्made of stone/adamantine essence; stone-hard
अश्मसारमयम्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootअश्मसारमय
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
नूनम्surely, indeed
नूनम्:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootनूनम्
हृदयम्heart
हृदयम्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootहृदय
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
ममof me, my
मम:
Sambandha
TypePronoun
Rootअस्मद्
FormGenitive, Singular
पार्थिवाःO kings, O rulers
पार्थिवाः:
Sambodhana
TypeNoun
Rootपार्थिव
FormMasculine, Vocative, Plural
Speaker
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Characters & Entities
V
VaiśampāyanaP
pārthivāḥ (kings)Character Dynamics
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the astonishing endurance of the human heart in the face of sorrow, prompting ethical reflection on suffering, resilience, and the inner cost of worldly conflict and loss.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana addresses assembled kings and remarks that his heart must be unnaturally hard, since it continues to bear overwhelming grief without breaking—an expression of lament within the Anuśāsana-parvan’s reflective discourse.