Mahabharata — Anushasana Parva, Shloka 17
युधिछिर उवाच पुनरेव हि मे बुद्धि: संशये परिमुहति । अपारे मार्गमाणस्य परं तीरमपश्यत:
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: punar eva hi me buddhiḥ saṁśaye parimuhyati | apāre mārgamāṇasya paraṁ tīram apaśyataḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Once again my understanding is thrown into confusion amid doubt. As I search within this boundless expanse, longing to cross over, I still cannot see the far shore.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical psychology of dharma: even a sincere seeker can be overwhelmed by uncertainty, and recognizing one’s confusion becomes the necessary first step toward receiving clear instruction and crossing beyond doubt.
Yudhiṣṭhira, still unsettled by complex questions of right conduct, addresses the elder teacher (contextually Bhīṣma in the Anuśāsana Parva) and admits that his intellect is again drowning in doubt, unable to find the ‘far shore’—a metaphor for decisive understanding.