Shloka 5

यज्ञवाटवैभववर्णनम् / Description of the Splendour of the Sacrificial Enclosure

Devanagari script

कि नु तस्य शरीरेडस्ति सर्वलक्षणपूजिते | अनिष्टं लक्षणं कृष्ण येन दुःखान्युपाश्नुते

Transliteration

Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: kiṃ nu tasya śarīre 'sti sarvalakṣaṇapūjite | aniṣṭaṃ lakṣaṇaṃ kṛṣṇa yena duḥkhāny upāśnute ||

Translation

尤提希提罗说道：“噢，奎师那啊，他的身躯具足一切吉祥之相，备受敬仰。那么，他身上究竟有什么不祥之征，竟使他必须忍受如此众多的苦难？”

Word by Word

• किम्: what?
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: किम्

• नु: indeed/then (interrogative particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नु

• तस्य: of him/of that
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: masculine/neuter, genitive, singular

• शरीरे: in the body
• शरीरे: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शरीर
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• अस्ति: is/exists
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस्
• Form: present, 3rd, singular, parasmaipada

• सर्वलक्षणपूजिते: in (a body) honored/marked with all (auspicious) signs
• सर्वलक्षणपूजिते: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्वलक्षणपूजित
• Form: neuter, locative, singular

• अनिष्टम्: inauspicious/undesired
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनिष्ट
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, singular

• लक्षणम्: mark/sign
• Type: Noun
• Root: लक्षण
• Form: neuter, nominative/accusative, singular

• कृष्ण: O Krishna
• Type: Noun
• Root: कृष्ण
• Form: masculine, vocative, singular

• येन: by which
• येन: Karana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद्
• Form: neuter/masculine, instrumental, singular

• दुःखानि: sufferings
• दुःखानि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दुःख
• Form: neuter, accusative, plural

• उपाश्नुते: experiences/undergoes
• Type: Verb
• Root: अश्
• Form: present, 3rd, singular, ātmanepada

Speaker

युधिष्ठिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Śrī Kṛṣṇa

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

External auspicious signs do not guarantee a life free from suffering; Yudhiṣṭhira’s question points toward a deeper moral causality—dharma and karma—where pain may arise from complex past causes and the burdens of duty, not merely from visible ‘omens’.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Śrī Kṛṣṇa, puzzled that a person who appears endowed with all auspicious bodily marks still undergoes repeated hardships, and he asks what hidden inauspicious factor could explain that suffering.