Shloka 42
धृतराष्ट्रस्य पाण्डवेषु प्रीति-वृत्तान्तः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Affectionate Disposition toward the Pāṇḍavas
यो5हं भवन्न्तं दुःखार्तमुपवासकृशं भूशम् । जिताहारं क्षितिशयं न विन्दे भ्रातृभि: सह
yo 'haṁ bhavantaṁ duḥkhārtaṁ upavāsa-kṛśaṁ bhūśam | jitāhāraṁ kṣitiśayaṁ na vinde bhrātṛbhiḥ saha ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “I could not find you—though I searched together with my brothers—while you were afflicted with sorrow, emaciated from fasting, lying upon the bare earth, and living with strict restraint in food. That I failed to learn of your condition is itself a cause for remorse.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical responsibility toward elders and dependents: even a righteous king must remain vigilant to others’ suffering. It also frames fasting, restraint, and sleeping on the ground as marks of ascetic hardship that demand compassionate response rather than neglect.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses an honored person who has withdrawn into severe austerity—fasting, food-restraint, and sleeping on the earth—while burdened by grief. He laments that he and his brothers could not locate or learn of this condition in time.