Shloka 14
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Grief, Kṛṣṇa’s Consolation, and Vyāsa’s Admonition (युधिष्ठिरशोक-निवारणोपदेशः)
कर्मणा तद् विधत्स्वेह येन शुध्यति मे मन: । शत्रुदमन श्रीकृष्ण! अब जिस कर्मके द्वारा मुझे अपने इस क्रूरतापूर्ण पापसे छुटकारा मिले तथा जिससे मेरा चित्त शुद्ध हो, वही कीजिये || १३ $ ।।
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca |
karmaṇā tad vidhatsveha yena śudhyati me manaḥ |
śatrudamana śrīkṛṣṇa! adya yasmin karmaṇā mama asmin krūratāpūrṇāt pāpāt mucyeya, yena ca me cittaṃ śudhyet, tad eva kuru ||
(tam evaṃ vādinaṃ pārthaṃ vyāsaḥ provāca dharmavit |
kuntīnandana yudhiṣṭhiraṃ tathā vadantaṃ dṛṣṭvā dharmatattvavid mahātejā vyāsaḥ sāntvayitvā idaṃ śubhaṃ sārthakaṃ vacanam uvāca— “tāta! tava buddhiḥ adhunāpi na śuddhā; punar bālako citāvivekāt mohena paryavasitaḥ …”)
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Here and now, prescribe for me the act by which my mind may be purified. O Śrī Kṛṣṇa, tamer of foes—do that very deed through which I may be released from this cruel sin and through which my heart becomes clean.” As he spoke in this way, Vyāsa—knower of dharma—addressed the son of Pṛthā. Seeing Kuntī’s son Yudhiṣṭhira speaking thus, the radiant Vyāsa, consoling him, spoke these auspicious and meaningful words: “My child, your understanding is not yet purified; once again, through a childish lack of discernment, you have fallen into delusion …”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral purification is not achieved merely by outward acts; it requires right discernment (viveka) and a mind freed from delusion (moha). Vyāsa’s intervention frames Yudhiṣṭhira’s guilt as a spiritual-ethical problem needing wise counsel, not only ritual or action.
Yudhiṣṭhira, burdened by the cruelty and sin he associates with the war’s outcome, implores Kṛṣṇa to prescribe an act that will cleanse his mind. Immediately, Vyāsa appears as a dharma-authority and begins to console and correct Yudhiṣṭhira, indicating that his understanding is still clouded by delusion.