Shloka 24
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
Devanagari script
अद्य चाप्यवगच्छामि गतिमिष्टामिहात्मन:
Transliteration
adya cāpy avagacchāmi gatim iṣṭām ihātmanaḥ
Translation
“而在今日，我也清楚明白了我在此身所珍爱的归途与命运。”
Word by Word
अद्यtoday
अद्य:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअद्य
चand
च:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच
अपिalso/even
अपि:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootअपि
अवगच्छामिI understand/come to know
अवगच्छामि:
TypeVerb
Rootअवगम् (गम्)
Formलट्, present indicative, 1st, singular, परस्मैपद
गतिम्course/goal/destination
गतिम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootगति
Formfeminine, accusative, singular
इष्टाम्desired, wished-for
इष्टाम्:
TypeAdjective
Rootइष्ट (√इष्/√यज्; past passive participle used adjectivally)
Formfeminine, accusative, singular
इहhere/in this world
इह:
Adhikarana
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइह
आत्मनःof myself/of the self
आत्मनः:
Sampradana
TypeNoun
Rootआत्मन्
Formmasculine, genitive, singular
Speaker
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)
War Context
Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)
Philosophical Teaching
Political Layer
Meter (Chandas)
Sandhi Notes
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes discernment of one’s rightful and desired life-direction (gati) in the present—an ethical-spiritual pivot from external power and grief toward inner clarity, duty, and detachment.
Within the Āśramavāsika context—where the elders withdraw to the forest and the aftermath of the war is being processed—the line marks a moment of personal realization: the speaker expresses that he now understands the destined/cherished path for himself in this very situation.