Mahabharata 3.21.24 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 21, Shloka 24

Dvārakā’s Distress and the Saubha Engagement (द्वारकाव्यग्रता तथा सौभयुद्धम्)

Devanagari script

विशीर्णमलिनोष्णीष: प्रकीर्णाम्बरमूर्धज: । प्रपतन्‌ दृश्यते ह सम क्षीणपुण्य इव ग्रह:

Transliteration

viśīrṇa-malinoṣṇīṣaḥ prakīrṇāmbara-mūrdhajaḥ | prapatan dṛśyate ha sama kṣīṇa-puṇya iva grahaḥ ||

Translation

Khăn đội đầu của Người bẩn và tuột rã; y phục và mái tóc tung tán rối bời. Khi lao xuống, Người hiện ra như một vì sao đã cạn phước—ánh sáng tàn—rơi khỏi chỗ đứng của mình.

Word by Word

• विशीर्ण: scattered, fallen apart
• विशीर्ण: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विशीर्ण (वि-√शॄ/शॄण्, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मलिन: dirty, soiled
• मलिन: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मलिन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• उष्णीषः: turban, headcloth
• उष्णीषः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: उष्णीष
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रकीर्ण: scattered, strewn about
• प्रकीर्ण: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रकीर्ण (प्र-√कॄ/किर्, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अम्बर: garment, clothing
• अम्बर: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अम्बर
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• मूर्धजः: hair (lit. born on the head)
• मूर्धजः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मूर्धज
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• प्रपतन्: falling (while falling)
• प्रपतन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्रपतत् (प्र-√पत्, शतृ)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• दृश्यते: is seen, appears
• दृश्यते: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: √दृश्
• Form: Present, Atmanepada (passive sense), 3rd, Singular

• ह: indeed, surely
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ह

• सम: like, as
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम

• क्षीण: diminished, exhausted
• क्षीण: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षीण (√क्षि, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पुण्यः: merit, virtue
• पुण्यः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुण्य
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• इव: as if, like
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव

• ग्रहः: planet; (also) seizer
• ग्रहः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: ग्रह
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वायुदेव उवाच

Characters & Entities

• वायुदेव (Vāyudeva)
• ग्रह (celestial body/planet/star)
• उष्णीष (turban/headdress)
• अम्बर (garments)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses a vivid simile—‘like a celestial body whose merit is exhausted’—to suggest that outward collapse mirrors inner depletion: when पुण्य (merit) is spent, one’s stability, dignity, and ‘radiance’ (status/fortune) can fall away. It reinforces the Mahābhārata’s ethical theme that actions and accumulated merit have tangible consequences.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vāyudeva describes a figure seen falling, with turban, clothes, and hair disheveled. The imagery emphasizes sudden downfall and loss of composure, comparing the person’s appearance in descent to a star/planet dropping from its place after its merit is exhausted.