Shloka 4
Duryodhana’s Post-Duel Lament and Instructions (भग्नसक्थस्य विलापः)
विद्रुते शिबिरे शून्ये प्राप्त यशसि चोत्तमे । कि नु तत् कारणं ब्रह्मन् येन कृष्णो गत: पुन:,ब्रह्मन! जब युद्धमें सारे योद्धा मारे गये, दुर्योधनका भी अन्त हो गया, भूमण्डलमें पाण्डुपुत्र युधिष्ठिरके शत्रुओंका सर्वथा अभाव हो गया, कौरवदलके लोग शिविरको सूना करके भाग गये और पाण्डवोंको उत्तम यशकी प्राप्ति हो गयी, तब कौन-सा ऐसा कारण आ गया, जिससे श्रीकृष्ण पुन: हस्तिनापुरमें गये?
vidrute śibire śūnye prāpta-yaśasi cottame | ki nu tat kāraṇaṃ brahman yena kṛṣṇo gataḥ punaḥ ||
Janamejaya said: “O Brahmin, when the Kaurava camp had been abandoned and left empty, when the Pāṇḍavas had attained the highest fame, and when Yudhiṣṭhira’s enemies had been utterly wiped out from the earth—what, then, was the reason that led Kṛṣṇa to go once again to Hastināpura?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even after victory, dharma requires continued responsibility: restoring order, guiding the new king, and addressing unresolved moral and political duties. The verse frames victory as not the end of action, but the beginning of governance and ethical consolidation.
Janamejaya asks why Kṛṣṇa returned to Hastināpura despite the war being decisively concluded—Kauravas routed, the enemy eliminated, and the Pāṇḍavas celebrated—implying that some further purpose or necessity remained.