Shloka 33
Vidura’s Return; Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Departure; Nārada’s Instruction on Kāla and Detachment
अम्बा च हतपुत्रार्ता पितृव्य: क्व गत: सुहृत् । अपि मय्यकृतप्रज्ञे हतबन्धु: स भार्यया । आशंसमान: शमलं गङ्गायां दु:खितोऽपतत् ॥ ३३ ॥
ambā ca hata-putrārtā pitṛvyaḥ kva gataḥ suhṛt api mayy akṛta-prajñe hata-bandhuḥ sa bhāryayā āśaṁsamānaḥ śamalaṁ gaṅgāyāṁ duḥkhito ’patat
And where is Mother Gāndhārī, tormented by the death of her sons? Where has our well-wisher, Uncle Vidura, gone? Am I so ungrateful and lacking in discernment? Did Dhṛtarāṣṭra, bereft of sons and kinsmen, take my faults as grave offenses and, in sorrow, cast himself into the Gaṅgā together with his wife?
The Pāṇḍavas, especially Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira and Arjuna, anticipated the aftereffects of the Battle of Kurukṣetra, and therefore Arjuna declined to execute the fighting. The fight was executed by the will of the Lord, but the effects of family aggrievement, as they had thought of it before, had come to be true. Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was always conscious of the great plight of his uncle Dhṛtarāṣṭra and aunt Gāndhārī, and therefore he took all possible care of them in their old age and aggrieved conditions. When, therefore, he could not find his uncle and aunt in the palace, naturally his doubts arose, and he conjectured that they had gone down to the water of the Ganges. He thought himself ungrateful because when the Pāṇḍavas were fatherless, Mahārāja Dhṛtarāṣṭra had given them all royal facilities to live, and in return he had killed all Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons in the Battle of Kurukṣetra. As a pious man, Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira took into account all his unavoidable misdeeds, and he never thought of the misdeeds of his uncle and company. Dhṛtarāṣṭra had suffered the effects of his own misdeeds by the will of the Lord, but Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira was thinking only of his own unavoidable misdeeds. That is the nature of a good man and devotee of the Lord. A devotee never finds fault with others, but tries to find his own and thus rectify them as far as possible.
FAQs
In Canto 1, Chapter 13, the household notices Dhritarashtra and Gandhari have departed; this verse reflects the concern and grief of the family, setting the stage for the teaching that renunciation and spiritual urgency can arise even late in life.
Uttara sees Yudhishthira devastated after the war and the loss of relatives; when Dhritarashtra and Gandhari also vanish, she fears Yudhishthira—sorrowful and expecting calamity—may have taken a desperate step.
It highlights how sudden losses can cloud judgment; the practical takeaway is to seek wise guidance, remain grounded in dharma, and turn grief toward spiritual steadiness rather than impulsive, self-harming decisions.