Shloka 11
न स पश्यति दुष्टात्मा त्वामद्य पतितं क्षितौ । अतः: श्रेयो मृतं मन््ये नेह जीवितमात्मन:,वह दुष्टात्मा आज आपको इस तरह भूमिपर पड़ा हुआ नहीं देख रहा है, अतः उसकी मृत्युको ही मैं यहाँ श्रेष्ठ मानता हूँ; किन्तु अपने इस जीवनको नहीं
na sa paśyati duṣṭātmā tvām adya patitaṃ kṣitau | ataḥ śreyo mṛtaṃ manye neha jīvitam ātmanaḥ ||
That wicked-souled one does not see you today lying fallen upon the earth. Therefore I judge death here to be the better course, not this continued life of mine—when such a sight has come to pass and the wrongdoer remains unshamed by witnessing it.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices a dharmic anguish: when a righteous person witnesses a humiliating fall of someone worthy while the wrongdoer remains unaffected, mere survival can feel ethically hollow. It highlights the tension between endurance (living on) and the demand for moral accountability, showing how honor and justice weigh heavily in a kṣatriya moral imagination.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses someone who has fallen on the ground and laments that the wicked person responsible (or implicated) is not present to witness this downfall. In that grief and indignation, he declares that death seems preferable to continuing life under such circumstances.