Shloka 41

Vyāsa’s Boon-Offer and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Remorse in the Forest Assembly (आश्रमवासिक पर्व, अध्याय ३६)

Devanagari script

अहो धिगिति राजा तु विक्रुश्य भृशदु:खित:

Transliteration

aho dhig iti rājā tu vikruśya bhṛśa-duḥkhitaḥ

Translation

Vaiśampāyana nói: “Ôi! Thật đáng hổ thẹn!”—nhà vua kêu lên như thế, than khóc trong đau đớn, bị nỗi sầu thảm dữ dội nhấn chìm. Lời thốt ấy hàm chứa sự ghê tởm về mặt đạo lý và tự trách, khoảnh khắc khi bi thương hóa thành một phán xét luân lý về điều đã xảy ra.

Word by Word

• अहो: alas!/oh!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहो
• Form: Avyaya (exclamation)

• धिग्: fie!/shame!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: धिग्
• Form: Avyaya (censure/exclamation)

• इति: thus (saying)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इति
• Form: Avyaya (quotative)

• राजा: the king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु
• Form: Avyaya (particle)

• विक्रुश्य: having cried out
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-√क्रुश्
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), from vi-√kruś (to cry out), indeclinable

• भृशदुःखितः: deeply distressed
• भृशदुःखितः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भृश-दुःखित
• Form: Masculine, nominative, singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• the king (rājā)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how profound suffering can awaken moral clarity: grief is not only emotional pain but also an ethical reckoning, expressed through self-condemnation (“dhik”) and lament (“aho”).

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśampāyana reports that the king, struck by intense sorrow, cries out loudly, exclaiming “Alas! Shame!”—a dramatic moment of lamentation and inner turmoil.