Shloka 3

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

न च मुज्चति मां शोको ज्ञातिघातिनमातुरम्‌ | राज्यकामुकमत्युग्रं स्ववंशोच्छेदकारिणम्‌

Transliteration

yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | na ca muñcati māṃ śoko jñātighātinam āturam | rājyakāmukam atyugraṃ svavaṃśocchedakāriṇam ||

Translation

قال يودهيشثيرا: «إن الحزن لا يفارقني. أنا مُعذَّب، لأنني صرت قاتلًا لقرابتي—من اشتهى المملكة، واشتدّت قسوته، وتسبّب في هلاك سلالته هو نفسه.»

Word by Word

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• मुच्यति: is released / lets go
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच्
• Form: Lat, Present, 3, Singular, Atmanepada

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद्
• Form: Accusative, Singular

• शोकः: grief
• शोकः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: शोक
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ज्ञातिघातिनम्: a slayer of kinsmen
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्ञाति-घातिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• आतुरम्: distressed / agitated
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आतुर
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• राज्यकामुकम्: desirous of kingdom
• Type: Adjective
• Root: राज्य-कामुक
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• अति-उग्रम्: exceedingly fierce
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अति-उग्र
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• स्ववंशोच्छेदकारिणम्: one who causes the destruction of his own lineage
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्व-वंश-उच्छेद-कारिन्
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Vyāsa (context: addressed as sage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of victory gained through kin-slaying: even a ‘just’ outcome can leave a dharmic agent burdened by remorse when the means involve violence against one’s own people and the ruin of one’s lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, after the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to the sage Vyāsa, confessing that sorrow will not leave him because he sees himself as responsible for the slaughter of relatives and the devastation of his family line, driven (as he fears) by desire for the kingdom.