Shloka 45
धृतराष्ट्रस्य पाण्डवेषु प्रीति-वृत्तान्तः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Affectionate Disposition toward the Pāṇḍavas
महाराज! इस राज्यसे, इन भोगोंसे, इन यज्ञोंसे अथवा इस सुख-सामग्रीसे मुझे क्या लाभ हुआ? जब कि मेरे ही पास रहकर आपको इतने दुःख उठाने पड़े ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | mahārāja! asya rājyasya, ebhir bhogaiḥ, ebhir yajñaiḥ athavā asyāḥ sukha-sāmagrayā mama kiṃ prayojanam? yadā mamaiva pārśve tiṣṭhan bhavān evaṃ bahūni duḥkhāni soḍhavān || pīḍitaṃ cāpi jānāmi rājyam ātmānam eva ca | anena vacasā tubhyaṃ duḥkhitasya janeśvara ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O great king, what profit has this kingdom brought me—what profit these enjoyments, these sacrifices, or this whole apparatus of comfort—when, even while staying close to me, you had to endure such suffering? And, O lord of men, hearing you speak in this grief, I regard both the entire kingdom and even myself as afflicted.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly power and ritual merit lose their value when they are accompanied by the suffering of elders and dependents; ethical kingship is measured not by possessions but by the well-being of those one is responsible for, and remorse can become a doorway to detachment.
In the Āśramavāsika context, Yudhiṣṭhira responds to a grieving elder/kingly figure, lamenting that despite having gained the kingdom and its pleasures and sacrificial prestige, he sees no benefit because the other has suffered greatly even while near him; he therefore considers both the kingdom and himself ‘afflicted’ by that sorrow.