Shloka 21
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
महाबाहो! तुम युद्धमें मारे गये उन क्षत्रियोंके भी ऐसे कर्मोंका चिन्तन करो जो उनके विनाशके कारण थे और जिनके होनेसे ही उन्हें कालके अधीन होना पड़ा ।।
mahābāho! tvaṃ yuddhe māritānāṃ teṣāṃ kṣatriyāṇām api tādṛśāṃ karmāṇāṃ cintanaṃ kuru, yāni teṣāṃ vināśa-kāraṇāni babhūvuḥ, yaiḥ sambhūtaiḥ te kālasya vaśam āpannāḥ. ātmanaś ca vijānīhi niyata-vrata-śāsanam; yadā tvam īdṛśaṃ karma vidhinā balāt kāritaḥ.
Vyāsa sprach: „O Mächtigarmiger, bedenke auch die Taten jener Kṣatriyas (kṣatriya), die im Krieg fielen—Taten, die Ursache ihres Untergangs wurden und sie, einmal begangen, unter die Herrschaft der Zeit brachten. Und prüfe auch dein eigenes Verhalten: obwohl du in standhaften Gelübden und geregelten Observanzen geschult warst, zwang dich der Ordner des Geschicks durch die Macht des Schicksals, eine so harte Tat zu vollbringen.“
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vyāsa urges ethical self-examination: the fall of warriors is linked to their own destructive actions, yet human agency operates under the overpowering framework of Kāla (Time) and Vidhi (destiny). The teaching balances responsibility for karma with humility before forces larger than individual will.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective setting after the war, Vyāsa addresses a heroic listener and directs him to contemplate both the slain kṣatriyas’ ruin-causing deeds and his own conduct—acknowledging that even a disciplined person may be driven by destiny to commit severe acts amid the compulsions of war.