Shloka 37

Vyāsa’s Inquiry into Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Tapas and the Identification of Vidura with Dharma

Devanagari script

नोत्सहे5हं परित्यक्तुं मातरं भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

notsaha'haṃ parityaktuṃ mātaraṃ bharatarṣabha

Translation

اے بھرتوں میں برتر! میں اپنی ماں کو چھوڑنے کی ہمت نہیں کرتا۔

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• उत्सहे: I am able / I dare
• Type: Verb
• Root: उत्सह्
• Form: Lat, Present indicative, 1st, Singular, Atmanepada

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: Common, Nominative, Singular

• परित्यक्तुम्: to abandon / to leave
• Type: Verb
• Root: परि-त्यज्
• Form: Tumun (infinitive), Parasmaipada/Atmanepada-neutral (infinitive)

• मातरम्: mother
• मातरम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: मातृ
• Form: Feminine, Accusative, Singular

• भरतर्षभ: O bull among the Bharatas (best of the Bharatas)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भरत-ऋषभ
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• bharatarṣabha (addressee, a Bharata prince/king)
• mother (mātā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds dharma as lived responsibility: even amid pressures toward withdrawal or hard decisions, abandoning one’s mother is presented as morally unthinkable. It highlights compassion and filial obligation as ethical anchors.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, a speaker expresses an inability to leave his mother behind, addressing someone respectfully as “bharatarṣabha.” The line conveys an emotional and ethical refusal to separate from or forsake her.