Shloka 3
ततो दुःखतरं मन्ये किमन्यत् प्रभविष्यति । अद्याहं पितरं श्र॒ुत्वा निहतं सम सुदुर्मति:
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | tato duḥkhataraṃ manye kim anyat prabhaviṣyati | adyāhaṃ pitaraṃ śrutvā nihataṃ saṃa sudurmatiḥ |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „Was könnte nach diesem Leid noch Größeres an Kummer hervorbringen? Heute hörte ich, dass Bhīṣma, mein Ältester—mir wie ein Vater—niedergestreckt wurde, und doch lebe ich noch; ach, wie unerquicklich verirrt ist mein Geist.“
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tragedy of moral blindness born from attachment: Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes that his distorted judgment (sudurmati) has led to a situation where even the fall of a revered elder becomes an unbearable consequence, yet he remains bound to life and to the outcomes of his choices.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to the report that Bhīṣma—his elder and a father-figure—has been struck down in the war. He expresses that no sorrow could be greater and condemns his own misguided intellect for having brought him to witness (and survive) such news.