Shloka 143
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
को हि मे जीवितेनार्थस्तमृते पुरुषर्षभम् । शत्रुओंपर असंख्य बाणोंकी वर्षा करनेवाला वह शूरवीर युद्धमें मार डाला गया। उस पुरुषशिरोमणिके बिना मेरे इस जीवनसे क्या प्रयोजन है?
ko hi me jīvitena arthaḥ tam ṛte puruṣarṣabham | śatrūṇām upari asaṅkhyabāṇavarṣaṃ karṇeśvaraḥ sa śūro yuddhe nihataḥ | tasmin puruṣaśiromaṇau vinā mama jīvitena kiṃ prayojanam ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “What purpose does my life serve without that bull among men? That heroic warrior—who used to shower countless arrows upon the enemies—has been slain in battle. Bereft of that foremost of men, what use is this life to me?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intense attachment to a person or outcome can collapse one’s sense of meaning when loss occurs. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, it implicitly warns that clinging to power and victory in war leads to sorrow, whereas steadiness in dharma requires inner resilience amid inevitable change.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to the report that the great warrior (contextually Karṇa) has been killed. He recalls the hero’s battlefield prowess—showering innumerable arrows on enemies—and expresses despair, questioning the value of his own life without that champion.