Shloka 18
Uttanka’s Inquiry and Vāsudeva’s Adhyātma Exposition
Guṇa–Ritual–Immanence Teaching
ततो यमक्षयं जग्मु: समासाद्येतरेतरम् । पज्चैव पाण्डवा: शिष्टा हतामित्रा हतात्मजा: । धार्रराष्ट्रश्न निहता: सर्वे ससुतबान्धवा:
tato yamakṣayaṁ jagmuḥ samāsādya itaretaram | pañcaiva pāṇḍavāḥ śiṣṭā hatāmitrā hatātmajāḥ | dhārtarāṣṭrāś ca nihatāḥ sarve sasutabāndhavāḥ ||
সেইবাবে তেওঁলোকে পৰস্পৰে পৰস্পৰক আক্ৰমণ কৰি যমলোকলৈ গ’ল। সেই যুদ্ধত শত্রুসকলক বধ কৰি কেৱল পাঁচ পাণ্ডৱেই জীৱিত ৰ’ল; কিন্তু তেওঁলোকৰ পুত্ৰসকলও নিহত হ’ল। গন্ধাৰীগৰ্ভজাত ধৃতৰাষ্ট্ৰৰ সকলো পুত্ৰ পুত্ৰ আৰু স্বজনসহ বিনষ্ট হ’ল।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when a side ‘wins’ a war, the ethical and human cost can be total: hatred and adharma consume both victor and vanquished. The verse highlights the tragic symmetry of destruction—enemies are slain, but one’s own sons and kin are also lost—warning that violence fractures lineage, joy, and moral order.
Vaiśampāyana summarizes the outcome of the great conflict: the combatants meet death and go to Yama’s realm. Only the five Pāṇḍavas remain alive, though their sons are dead; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons (the Dhārtarāṣṭras), born of Gāndhārī, are all annihilated along with their sons and relatives.