Mahabharata 7.149.20 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 149, Shloka 20

अलंबलवधः (Alaṃbala-vadhaḥ) / The Slaying of Alaṃbala and the Advance toward Karṇa

Devanagari script

शोचयत्येष नियतं भूय: पुत्रवधाद्धि माम्‌

Transliteration

śocayaty eṣa niyataṃ bhūyaḥ putravadhād dhi mām

Translation

Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Ang taong ito’y paulit-ulit na nagpapalungkot sa akin—tunay nga, dahil sa pagpaslang sa kanyang anak.”

Word by Word

• शोचयति: causes (me) to grieve
• शोचयति: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: शोचय् (causative of √शुच्)
• Form: Lat (Present), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• एषः: this (man/one)
• एषः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद् (प्रातिपदिक: एष)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• नियतं: constantly, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नियत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Adverbial (accusative used adverbially)

• भूयः: again, further
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: भूयस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Adverb

• पुत्रवधात्: from the killing of (my) son
• पुत्रवधात्: Apadana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुत्रवध (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Ablative, Singular

• हि: indeed, for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक: मा)
• Form: —, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• a grieving man (unspecified in this half-verse)
• son (unspecified)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how the violent loss of a child becomes an enduring source of sorrow, showing the human cost of war and the ethical weight carried by survivors and witnesses.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, remarks that a particular person repeatedly causes him grief, specifically due to the death of that person’s son—indicating an ongoing lament or reminder tied to the battlefield loss.