Shloka 20

Devanagari script

चितासमीपे गत्वा स तत्रापश्यद्‌ वनस्पतिम्‌ । तालमात्रं महास्कन्ध॑ मूर्थशुष्क॑ विशाम्पते,राजन! चिताके समीप जाकर उन्होंने वहाँ ताड़के बराबर एक वृक्ष देखा, जिसकी शाखाएँ बहुत बड़ी थीं और जो ऊपरसे सूख गया था

Transliteration

citāsamīpe gatvā sa tatrāpaśyad vanaspatim | tālamātraṁ mahāskandhaṁ mūrdhnaḥ śuṣkaṁ viśāmpate rājann ||

Translation

毗舍波耶那说：他走近火葬柴堆，见那里有一棵树——约如棕榈般高——树干粗壮，而树梢已然枯槁，噢，民众之主，噢，大王。

Word by Word

चितासमीपेnear the funeral-pyre

गत्वाhaving gone

सःhe

तत्रthere

अपश्यत्saw

वनस्पतिम्a tree

तालमात्रम्of the measure/height of a palm-tree

महास्कन्धम्having a huge trunk

मूर्धशुष्कम्dry at the top

विशाम्पतेO lord of the people

राजन्O king

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

citā (funeral pyre)

vanaspati (tree)

tāla (palm tree, as a measure of height)

rājan/viśāmpati (the king addressed, i.e., Janamejaya)

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 underscores impermanence through imagery: near a funeral pyre stands a withered-topped tree. The setting evokes the ethical seriousness of rites and the transient nature of life and power, even as royal affairs continue.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator reports that the person in the story approaches the vicinity of a funeral pyre and notices a distinctive tree—palm-height, thick-trunked, and dried at the crown—establishing the scene and mood for what follows.