Shloka 19
“राजन! आप जब हमें त्याग देंगे, हमें छोड़कर चले जायँगे, तब हम बहुत दिनोंतक दुःख और शोकमें डूबे रहेंगे। आपके सैकड़ों गुणोंकी याद सदा हमें घेरे रहेगी ।। यथा शान्तनुना गुप्ता राज्ञा चित्राज्देन च । भीष्मवीर्योपगूढेन पित्रा तव च पार्थिव,'पृथ्वीनाथ! महाराज शान्तनु तथा राजा चित्रांगदने जिस प्रकार हमारी रक्षा की है, भीष्मके पराक्रमसे सुरक्षित आपके पिता विचित्रवीर्यने जिस तरह हमलोगोंका पालन किया है तथा आपकी देख-रेखमें रहकर पृथ्वीपति पाण्डुने जिस प्रकार प्रजाजनोंकी रक्षा की है, उसी प्रकार राजा दुर्योधनने भी हमलोगोंका यथावत् पालन किया है
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
"rājan! āpa jaba hameṃ tyāga deṅge, hameṃ choṛakara cale jāyaṅge, taba vayaṃ bahu-dināni duḥkha-śoka-nimagnā bhaviṣyāmaḥ | tava śataśo guṇānāṃ smṛtiḥ sadā asmān pariveṣṭayiṣyati ||
yathā śāntanunā guptā rājñā citrāṅgadēna ca |
bhīṣma-vīryopagūḍhena pitrā tava ca pārthiva |
"pṛthvīnātha! mahārāja śāntanu tathā rājā citrāṅgada yena prakāreṇa asmān arakṣatām, bhīṣmasya parākramena surakṣitaḥ tava pitā vicitravīryaḥ yena prakāreṇa asmān apālayat, tathā tava paricaryāyāṃ sthitvā pṛthvīpatiḥ pāṇḍuḥ yena prakāreṇa prajāḥ arakṣat—tathā eva rājā duryodhanaḥ api asmān yathāvat apālayat" ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O King! When you abandon us and depart, we shall remain for a long time submerged in grief and sorrow. The remembrance of your countless virtues will continually surround us. Just as King Śāntanu and King Citrāṅgada protected us; just as your father Vicitravīrya, safeguarded by Bhīṣma’s prowess, maintained us; and just as Pāṇḍu, the lord of the earth, protected the people while living under your care—so too did King Duryodhana, in due measure, sustain and look after us.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights rājadharma: a ruler’s foremost ethical duty is the proper protection and maintenance of dependents and subjects. It also underscores gratitude and moral memory—virtues of a leader continue to guide and console (or haunt) the community even after the leader’s departure.
A speaker, reported by Vaiśampāyana, addresses a king who is about to leave. The speaker expresses impending sorrow and then situates the king within a lineage of protectors—Śāntanu, Citrāṅgada, Vicitravīrya (secured by Bhīṣma), and Pāṇḍu—adding that Duryodhana too, in his time, maintained them properly. The passage functions as a remembrance of past guardianship and a lament at separation.