Shloka 3
Adhyāya 60: Dāna vs. Yajña—Royal Giving, Protection, and Karmic Share
भरतनन्दन! पितामह! यद्यपि मैंने इस पृथ्वीको जीतकर सैकड़ों देशोंके राज्योंपर अधिकार पाया है तथापि इसके लिये जो करोड़ों पुरुषोंकी हत्या करनी पड़ी है, उसके कारण मेरे मनमें बड़ा संताप हो रहा है ।। का नु तासां वरस्त्रीणां समवस्था भविष्यति । या हीना: पतिभि: पुन्रैर्मातुलैभ्रातृभिस्तथा,हाय! उन बेचारी सुन्दरी स्त्रियोंकी क्या दशा होगी, जो आज अपने पति, पुत्र, भाई और मामा आदि सम्बन्धियोंसे सदाके लिये बिछुड़ गयी हैं?
bharatanandana! pitāmaha! yady api mayā imāṁ pṛthivīṁ jitvā saikadho deśānāṁ rājyopari adhikāraḥ prāptaḥ, tathāpi asya kṛte ye koṭyaḥ puruṣāṇāṁ hatāḥ, tatkāraṇāt mama manasi mahān santāpo vartate. kā nu tāsāṁ varastrīṇāṁ samavasthā bhaviṣyati, yā hīnāḥ patibhiḥ putrair mātulaiḥ bhrātṛbhis tathā.
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O scion of Bharata, O Grandfather! Though I have conquered this earth and gained dominion over the kingdoms of hundreds of lands, my heart is tormented, for this has been bought at the cost of the slaughter of countless men. What condition will befall those noble women who have been bereft—of husbands, sons, maternal uncles, and brothers alike?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a righteous victory can carry grave moral residue: Yudhiṣṭhira recognizes that political gain and sovereignty are ethically shadowed by mass death and by the long-term suffering of families—especially women left without protectors in a war-torn society.
After the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses Bhīṣma (lying on his bed of arrows) and confesses his anguish: he has won the earth, yet he grieves for the countless slain and worries about the fate of women who have lost husbands, sons, brothers, and maternal uncles.