Shloka 4
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
रुधिरेणावसिक्ताडुं प्रस्रवन्तं यथाचलम् । त्वां दृष्टवा पुरुषव्याप्र सीदे वर्षास्विवाम्बुजम्,पुरुषसिंह! पर्वतसे गिरनेवाले झरनेकी तरह आपके शरीरसे रक्तकी धारा बह रही है-- आपके सारे अड़ खूनसे लथपथ हो रहे हैं | इस अवस्थामें आपको देखकर मैं वर्षाकालके कमलकी तरह गला (दुःखित होता) जाता हूँ
rudhireṇāvasiktāṅgaṁ prasravantaṁ yathācalam | tvāṁ dṛṣṭvā puruṣavyāghra sīde varṣāsv ivāmbujam || puruṣasiṁha! parvatase giranevāle jharanekī taraha āpake śarīrase raktakī dhārā bah rahī hai—āpake sab aṅga khūnase lathpath ho rahe haiṁ | is avasthāmeṁ āpako dekhakar maiṁ varṣākālake kamalakī taraha galā (duḥkhita hotā) jātā hūṁ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O tiger among men, your body is drenched in blood, and blood streams from you like a mountain waterfall. Seeing you in this condition, O lion among men, my heart sinks and I wither like a lotus in the rainy season.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds dharmic sensitivity after violence: even in a righteous war, a virtuous king does not become numb to suffering. Yudhiṣṭhira’s compassion and moral anguish signal that victory does not erase responsibility toward the wounded and the dead.
In the opening of Anuśāsana Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira approaches the grievously wounded elder (traditionally Bhīṣma) and, seeing blood streaming from his body, laments with vivid similes—like a mountain cascade of blood and like a lotus drooping in the rains—expressing shock, sorrow, and reverence.