Shloka 4

Devanagari script

अश्मसारमयं नूनं॑ हृदयं मम संजय । श्रुत्वा विनिहतं भीष्मं शतधा यजन्न दीर्यते,संजय! निश्चय ही मेरा हृदय लोहेका बना हुआ है; क्योंकि आज भीष्मजीके मारे जानेका समाचार सुनकर भी यह सैकड़ों टुकड़ोंमें विदीर्ण नहीं हो रहा है

Transliteration

aśmasāramayaṃ nūnaṃ hṛdayaṃ mama sañjaya | śrutvā vinihataṃ bhīṣmaṃ śatadhā yaj janna dīryate ||

Translation

Dhṛtarāṣṭra nói: “Hỡi Sañjaya, hẳn tim ta làm bằng đá và sắt; bởi nghe tin Bhīṣma đã bị đánh gục mà nó vẫn không vỡ ra thành trăm mảnh. Lẽ ra đau thương phải nghiền nát ta, nhưng chấp trước và mê muội lại khiến ta không tan nát.”

Word by Word

अश्मसारमयम्made of stone-essence (stone-hard)

नूनम्surely, indeed

हृदयम्heart

ममof me, my

संजयO Sañjaya

श्रुत्वाhaving heard

विनिहतम्slain, killed

भीष्मम्Bhīṣma

शतधाinto a hundred parts, a hundredfold

यत्which (that)

नnot

दीर्यतेis torn, splits

संजयO Sañjaya

Speaker

धृतराष्ट उवाच

Characters & Entities

Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Sañjaya

Bhīṣma

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 how attachment and delusion can harden the heart: even when confronted with a catastrophic loss (Bhīṣma’s fall), Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes a moral-emotional numbness in himself. It implicitly critiques inner blindness—when one’s conscience and compassion should break, they remain rigid due to long-cultivated partiality and adharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya has reported to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Bhīṣma has been felled in battle. Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts with astonished self-reproach, saying his heart must be stone-like because it does not shatter upon hearing of Bhīṣma’s downfall.