Shloka 25
स्वर्गे दुर्योधनदर्शनम् | Duryodhana Seen in Heaven
Triviṣṭapa
क्व नु ते पार्थिवान् ब्रद्मुन्नैतान् पश्यामि नारद । विराटद्रुपदौ चैव धृष्टकेतुमुखांश्व॒ तान्
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | kva nu te pārthivān brūhi munne tān na paśyāmi nārada | virāṭa-drupadau caiva dhṛṣṭaketumukhāṃś ca tān | śikhaṇḍinaṃ draupadeyāṃś ca sarvān durdharṣaṃ cābhimanyum api paśyituṃ icchāmi ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana sprach: „O Weiser, sage mir: Wo sind jene Könige? O Nārada, ich sehe sie hier nicht. Wo sind Virāṭa und Drupada und jene, die Dhṛṣṭaketu anführt? Auch Śikhaṇḍin, alle Söhne Draupadīs und den unbezwingbaren Helden Abhimanyu wünsche ich zu schauen.“
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when death occurs under the banner of righteous duty (kṣatriya-dharma), the moral weight of loss remains. The epic underscores that dharma does not erase grief; it frames it, and the longing for reunion becomes part of the ethical aftermath of war.
The speaker addresses Nārada and asks where certain well-known warriors and kings are—Virāṭa, Drupada, Dhṛṣṭaketu and others, Śikhaṇḍin, Draupadī’s sons, and Abhimanyu—because he does not see them present and wishes to meet them.