Shloka 35
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)
हता: शूरा: कृतं पापं विषय: स्वो विनाशित:
hatāḥ śūrāḥ kṛtaṃ pāpaṃ viṣayaḥ svo vināśitaḥ
قال يودهيشثيرا: «لقد قُتل الأبطال، وارتُكبت الخطيئة، وجُرَّت مملكتنا نفسها إلى الخراب.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices the moral reckoning that follows violence: even when war is fought under claims of duty, the loss of life and the ruin of a realm can weigh as ‘pāpa’ in the conscience, urging reflection on responsibility, restraint, and the true cost of victory.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks in grief after the great war, surveying the devastation—fallen warriors, a sense of wrongdoing, and the destruction of the kingdom—expressing despair and moral anguish that frames the ensuing teachings on peace, dharma, and righteous rule.