Shloka 31
Vyāsa’s Inquiry into Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Tapas and the Identification of Vidura with Dharma
शून्येयं च मही कृत्स्ना न मे प्रीतिकरी शुभे | बान्धवा न: परिक्षीणा बल॑ नो न यथा पुरा
śūnyeyaṃ ca mahī kṛtsnā na me prītikarī śubhe | bāndhavā naḥ parikṣīṇā balaṃ no na yathā purā ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O auspicious one, this entire earth has become empty for me; it brings me no joy. Our kinsmen have been exhausted and destroyed, and our strength is no longer what it once was.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Worldly possession and political control cannot compensate for the ethical and emotional devastation caused by the destruction of one’s own people; when kinship networks and supporting strength collapse, the realm itself feels ‘empty,’ prompting dispassion and a turn away from triumphalism.
In the Ashramavāsika context, the speaker (through Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration) voices the bleak post-war condition: the land remains, but the community that gave it meaning—relatives and allies—has perished, and the former military power is gone, setting the stage for withdrawal to the forest and a life oriented toward austerity.