Shloka 26
सौप्तिकपर्व — धृष्टद्युम्नसारथिवृत्तान्तः
Report of the Night Raid and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament
तच्छोकजं दुःखमपारयन्ती कथं भविष्यत्युचिता सुखानाम् | पुत्रक्षय भ्रातृवधप्रणुन्ना प्रदह्ममानेन हुताशनेन,“जो सदा सुख भोगनेके ही योग्य है, वह उस शोकजनित दुःखको न सह सकनेके कारण न जाने कैसी दशाको पहुँच जायगी? पुत्रों और भाइयोंके विनाशसे व्यथित हो उसके हृदयमें जो शोककी आग जल उठेगी, उससे उसकी बड़ी शोचनीय दशा हो जायगी'
tacchokajaṃ duḥkham apārayantī kathaṃ bhaviṣyaty ucitā sukhānām | putrakṣaya bhrātṛvadhapraṇunnā pradahyamānena hutāśanena ||
Sūta said: “She, accustomed only to comfort, will be unable to endure that sorrow-born anguish—what state will she be reduced to? Struck down by the loss of her sons and the slaughter of her brothers, she will be driven by the inner fire of grief that blazes within her, and her condition will become deeply pitiable.”
सूत उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical and human cost of violence: beyond battlefield victory, the true consequence is the unbearable grief inflicted on families. It uses the metaphor of an inner fire to show how loss consumes a person from within, urging compassion and moral reflection on war’s aftermath.
Sūta describes a woman—one accustomed to comfort—who will be overwhelmed by sorrow after the destruction of her sons and the killing of her brothers. The narration emphasizes her impending, pitiable condition as grief burns in her heart like fire.