Shloka 58
Duryodhana’s Post-Duel Lament and Instructions (भग्नसक्थस्य विलापः)
एवमुक््त्वा महाराज धृतराष्ट्रं यदूत्तम:,उवाच परम॑ वाक््यं गान्धारीं शोककर्शिताम् | महाराज! यदश्रेष्ट श्रीकृष्ण राजा धृतराष्ट्रसे ऐसा कहकर शोकसे दुर्बल हुई गान्धारी देवीसे यह उत्तम वचन बोले--
evam uktvā mahārāja dhṛtarāṣṭraṁ yadūttamaḥ | uvāca paramaṁ vākyaṁ gāndhārīṁ śokakarśitām ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Having spoken thus, O King, the best of the Yadus (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) addressed King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, and then spoke a most weighty and fitting statement to Gāndhārī, who was worn down by grief.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames Kṛṣṇa’s forthcoming counsel as “parama vākya”—a morally weighty speech—delivered in a context of overwhelming grief. It signals that ethical guidance and dharmic reflection are especially necessary after catastrophic loss, when rulers and elders must confront consequences with clarity rather than despair.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana reports that Kṛṣṇa, after addressing King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, turns to Gāndhārī—devastated by sorrow—and begins to speak an important statement to her. This sets up a consolatory and corrective dialogue in the war’s aftermath.