Shloka 20

Adhyāya 22: Śālva’s Weapon-Shower, Dāruka’s Wounding, and the Māyā-Report of Vasudeva’s Father

Devanagari script

ततः पर्वतभारार्त्तान्‌ मन्दप्राणविचेष्टितान्‌ । हयान्‌ संदृश्य मां सूत: प्राह तात्कालिकं वच:,तब प्रस्तरखण्डोंके भारसे पीड़ित तथा धीरे-धीरे प्राणसाध्य चेष्टा करनेवाले घोड़ोंको देखकर सारथिने मुझसे यह समयोचित बात कही--

Transliteration

tataḥ parvatabhārārttān mandaprāṇaviceṣṭitān | hayān saṃdṛśya māṃ sūtaḥ prāha tāt-kālikaṃ vacaḥ ||

Translation

Pagkaraan, nang makita ng kutsero ang mga kabayo—nadaganan ng bigat ng malalaking batong tipak at hirap na hirap sa mahinang paghinga—kinausap niya ako ng mga salitang angkop sa kagyat na sandaling iyon.

Word by Word

ततःthen, thereafter

पर्वतभारार्त्तान्afflicted by the weight of rocks/mountains

मन्दप्राणविचेष्टितान्making feeble, life-barely-sustained efforts

हयान्horses

संदृश्यhaving seen

माम्me

सूतःthe charioteer

प्राहsaid, spoke

तात्कालिकम्timely, appropriate to the moment

वचःspeech, words

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vāyudeva

sūta (charioteer)

hayāḥ (horses)

parvata/prastara-khaṇḍa (rocky boulders)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights timely, situation-appropriate speech and action (tāt-kālika vacaḥ) grounded in compassion—especially when witnessing suffering and imminent danger to living beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva narrates that a charioteer, seeing the horses weakened and distressed under the weight of rocky boulders, speaks to him with urgent, fitting counsel for that moment.