Shloka 48

नियोगप्रसङ्गः — The Niyoga Episode: Births of Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Pāṇḍu, and Vidura

Devanagari script

शान्तनुश्वापि शोकार्तो जगाम स्वपुरं तत:ः । तस्याहं कीर्तयिष्यामि शान्तनोरधिकान्‌ गुणान्‌,इधर शान्तनु शोकसे आतुर हो पुनः अपने नगरको लौट गये। शान्तनुके उत्तम गुणोंका मैं आगे चलकर वर्णन करूँगा

Transliteration

Śāntanuś cāpi śokārto jagāma svapuraṃ tataḥ | tasyāhaṃ kīrtayiṣyāmi Śāntanor adhikān guṇān ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Rồi Śāntanu, lòng quặn thắt vì sầu muộn, trở về kinh thành của mình. Đến lúc thích hợp, ta sẽ thuật lại những đức hạnh phi thường của Śāntanu.”

Word by Word

• {'Śāntanuḥ': 'King Śāntanu (a Kuru ruler)', 'ca api': 'and also, moreover', 'śoka-ārtaḥ': 'afflicted by sorrow

• distressed with grief', 'jagāma': 'went

• departed', 'svapuram': 'to his own city/capital', 'tataḥ': 'then

• thereafter', 'tasya': 'of him

• his', 'aham': 'I', 'kīrtayiṣyāmi': 'I shall proclaim/describe

• I will narrate', 'adhikān': 'superior, outstanding, exceptional', 'guṇān': 'qualities, virtues, merits'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Śāntanu
• svapura (his own city/capital)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how even a powerful king is not beyond sorrow, and it signals that true evaluation of a ruler rests on guṇas (virtues). It also models ethical narration: the speaker promises a measured account of Śāntanu’s merits rather than dwelling only on tragedy.

What is happening in the narrative?

After the preceding events that cause him grief, Śāntanu, overwhelmed by sorrow, returns to his capital. The narrator Vaiśampāyana then foreshadows a forthcoming description of Śāntanu’s outstanding qualities.