Shloka 37
ऋषिसमागमः — युधिष्ठिरस्य शोकवर्णनम्
Sage Assembly and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Articulation of Grief
अथ शूरो महेष्वास: पार्थेनाजी निपातित: । अहं त्वज्ञासिषं पश्चात् स्वसोदर्य द्विजोत्तम
atha śūro maheṣvāsaḥ pārthenājau nipātitaḥ | ahaṁ tv ajñāsiṣaṁ paścāt svasodarya dvijottama ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Then on the battlefield that heroic warrior, the great archer, was struck down by Pārtha (Arjuna). But only afterward did I learn—O best of the twice-born—that he was my own full brother. When, long after the deed, I heard from my mother Kuntī that ‘Karṇa was our eldest, born of the same mother,’ my heart was seized by sharp anguish, for I have caused the killing of my brother.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of actions done in ignorance and the painful consequences of delayed truth. Even when war-deeds align with kṣatriya duty, the revelation of kinship transforms victory into moral anguish, underscoring the Mahābhārata’s insistence that dharma is complex and emotionally costly.
After the war, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects that Karṇa—slain by Arjuna in battle—was later revealed by their mother Kuntī to be their eldest full brother. Yudhiṣṭhira laments that he effectively caused his own brother’s death and is overwhelmed by grief and remorse.