Mahabharata — Ashramavasika Parva, Shloka 303
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
तथैव पुत्रपौत्राणां मम ये निहता युधि । “ब्रह्मन्! जो मित्रके लिये युद्धमें मारे गये उन राजाओंकी क्या गति हुई होगी? तथा जो रणभूमिमें वीरगतिको प्राप्त हुए हैं
tathaiva putrapautrāṇāṁ mama ye nihatā yudhi |
قال فايشَمبايانا: «وكذلك، أيُّ مصيرٍ ناله أبنائي وأحفادي الذين قُتلوا في القتال؟ “يا براهمن! ما عاقبةُ أولئك الملوك الذين سقطوا في الحرب من أجل صديق؟ وأبنائي وأحفادي الذين نالوا ميتةَ الأبطال في ساحة الوغى—إلى أيِّ منزلةٍ انتهوا؟”»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic and ethical inquiry: how to understand the spiritual consequence (gati) of death in war—especially for those who fought and died as kṣatriyas. It highlights the tension between duty-bound violence and the longing to know whether such deaths lead to merit, purification, or a higher realm.
In the Āśramavāsika context, the speaker (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) voices a grief-filled question about the posthumous destiny of close kin—sons and grandsons—who were killed in the great war, seeking clarity about their fate beyond death.
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