Shloka 7

Koṭikāśya’s Inquiry to the Radiant Woman near the Kadamba (कोटिकाश्यप्रश्नः)

Devanagari script

त॑ मोक्षयत भद्रें व: सहदारं नराधिपम्‌

Transliteration

taṁ mokṣayata bhadreṁ vaḥ sahadāraṁ narādhipam

Translation

杜尤陀那说道：“放了那位国王，连同他的王后一起。愿吉祥降临于你们。”

Word by Word

• तम्: him
• तम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मोक्षयत: release (you all)!
• मोक्षयत: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच्
• Form: Imperative (Lot), Second, Plural, Parasmaipada

• भद्रे: O auspicious lady / O good one
• Type: Noun (vocative address)
• Root: भद्र
• Form: Feminine, Vocative, Singular

• वः: of you (all) / your
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: युष्मद्
• Form: Genitive, Plural

• सह: together with
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सह

• दारम्: wife
• दारम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: दार
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• नराधिपम्: the king (lord of men)
• नराधिपम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: नराधिप
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

दुर्योधन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Duryodhana
• narādhipa (a king)
• the king's wife (dārāḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights how acts resembling compassion—such as ordering a captive’s release—can function within royal politics as displays of dominance and reputation-management. It invites reflection on the difference between genuine dharmic mercy and strategic ‘benevolence’ used to secure prestige or advantage.

What is happening in the narrative?

Duryodhana issues an order to others (plural imperative) to free a king, explicitly including the king’s wife, and adds a conventional benediction (“bhadraṁ vaḥ”—‘good to you’). The line reads as a public directive, signaling control over the captive’s fate.