Shloka 38
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
षोडशेमानि वर्षाणि गतानि मुनिपुज्भव । अस्य राज्ञो हतान् पुत्रान शोचतो न शमो विभो,मुनिवर! प्रभो! इन महाराजको अपने मरे हुए पुत्रोंक लिये शोक करते आज सोलह वर्ष बीत गये; किंतु अबतक इन्हें शान्ति नहीं मिली
Vaiśampāyana uvāca | ṣoḍaśemāni varṣāṇi gatāni munipuṅgava | asya rājño hatān putrān śocato na śamo vibho ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O best of sages, sixteen years have passed, yet this king—lamenting his slain sons—has found no peace. His grief remains unappeased, showing how attachment to one’s own and the wounds of war can continue to bind the mind long after time has moved on.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Time alone does not heal grief when attachment and unresolved remorse persist; inner peace (śama) requires insight, acceptance, and disciplined restraint of the mind rather than mere passage of years.
Vaiśampāyana reports that even after sixteen years, the king continues to mourn his slain sons and has not attained tranquility, highlighting the enduring psychological aftermath of the Kurukṣetra catastrophe.