ततस् तस्यानुयात्राणि ते चैव परिचारकाः ॥
श्रुत्वा भरतसिंहस्य विविधाः करुणा गिरः ॥
भीमम् आर्तस्वरं कृत्वा हाहेति परिचुक्रुशुः ॥
उष्णम् अश्रु विमुञ्चन्तस् तं विहाय महीपतिम् ॥
ययुर् नागपुरं तूर्णं सर्वम् आदाय तद्वचः ॥
श्रुत्वा च तेभ्यस् तत् सर्वं यथावृत्तं महावने ॥
धृतराष्ट्रो नरश्रेष्ठः पाण्डुम् एवान्वशोचत ॥
tatas tasyānuyātrāṇi te caiva paricārakāḥ ||
śrutvā bharatasiṃhasya vividhāḥ karuṇā giraḥ ||
bhīmam ārtasvaraṃ kṛtvā hāheti paricukruśuḥ ||
uṣṇam aśru vimuñcantas taṃ vihāya mahīpatim ||
yayur nāgapuraṃ tūrṇaṃ sarvam ādāya tadvacaḥ ||
śrutvā ca tebhyas tat sarvaṃ yathāvṛttaṃ mahāvane ||
dhṛtarāṣṭro naraśreṣṭhaḥ pāṇḍum evānvaśocata ||
"Then his retinue and attendants, having heard the many piteous words of the lion of the Bharatas, uttered a terrible cry of anguish and wailed, 'Alas, alas!' Shedding hot tears, leaving the sovereign, they hastened to Hastināpura, carrying all his words with them. And having heard from them everything that had happened in the great forest, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, foremost of men, grieved deeply for Pāṇḍu."
a76c97ddacc0 · published Jul 12, 2026, 4:30:27 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Here both the devotion of his subjects and the brotherly grief of Dhṛtarāṣṭra come to light. The tears and cries of the retinue are telling: the king who leaves his throne for the forest is mourned as a loss -- so deeply was he loved. In this lies the power of righteous love: a good ruler binds hearts to himself, and his departure is mourned by all. Telling, too, is Dhṛtarāṣṭra's sorrow for his brother: at this hour love still reigns between the brothers, not yet darkened by the future enmity of their sons. Thus the scripture once more records the good accord of the older generation, so that the tragedy of the younger stands out the more starkly; Dhṛtarāṣṭra's grief for Pāṇḍu is genuine -- and all the more bitter, since his own sons will unleash war against the sons of the brother he now mourns.