Mahabharata — Ashvamedhika Parva, Shloka 106
Uttaṅka’s Petition for Madayantī’s Divine Earrings (Maṇikuṇḍala) — Agreement, Proof, and Vigilance
दृष्टवा तां ववसो5वस्थां रुरोदार्तस्वरस्तदा । भारत! भारसे तो वे पिस ही गये थे, भूखने भी उन्हें व्याकुल कर दिया था। अतः अपनी उस अवस्थाको देखकर वे उस समय आर्त स्वरसे रोने लगे
dṛṣṭvā tāṁ vavaso’vasthāṁ rurodārtasvaras tadā | bhārata! bhārase to ve pis hī gaye the, bhūkhne bhī unheṁ vyākul kar diyā thā | ataḥ apanī us avasthā ko dekhkar ve us samaya ārta svar se rone lage |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: Nang makita niya ang kaawa-awang kalagayang iyon, siya’y umiyak sa tinig na punô ng dalamhati. O inapo ni Bharata, siya’y halos madurog sa bigat ng pasan at pinahirapan din ng gutom; kaya’t nang masdan niya ang sarili niyang kalagayan, siya’y humagulgol sa matinding paghihinagpis noon.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical realism of the Mahābhārata: even the mighty are reduced by hunger and hardship, and recognizing suffering—one’s own or another’s—invites compassion and humility, reinforcing the need to act with dharma amid adversity.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana describes a person who, upon seeing his own miserable condition—exhausted and tormented by hunger—breaks down and cries out in a distressed voice; the line is framed as an address to ‘Bhārata’.