Shloka 31
Adhyāya 90: Babhruvāhana’s Reception and the Commencement of Yudhiṣṭhira’s Aśvamedha
उज्छमप्राप्तवानेव ब्राह्मण: क्षुच्छूमान्वित: । स तथैव क्षुधाविष्ट: सार्ध परिजनेन ह
uccham aprāptavān eva brāhmaṇaḥ kṣucchūmān vitaḥ | sa tathaiva kṣudhāviṣṭaḥ sārdha-parijanena ha kṣapayāmāsa taṃ kālaṃ kṛcchra-prāṇo dvijottamaḥ |
Wika ni Nakula: “Ang Brahmin, bagaman pinahihirapan ng gutom at ng nakapapasong init, ay hindi pa rin nakakuha kahit munting tira-tirang pagkain. Kahit ginugupo ng gutom at pinanghihinaan ng lakas sa pagod, wala siyang natagpuang kahit isang butil. Kaya, kasama ang lahat ng umaasa sa kanya, tiniis niya ang panahong iyon sa gayong pagkakait, halos maingatan lamang ang buhay sa matinding hirap.”
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights dharmic endurance: even when reduced to seeking mere scraps and finding none, the virtuous person bears hardship without abandoning restraint or duty, sustaining life with difficulty but without ethical collapse.
Nakula describes a Brahmin undergoing severe deprivation—afflicted by heat and hunger, unable to obtain even leftover food—who nevertheless passes the time together with his dependents, barely maintaining life through extreme hardship.