Shloka 13
येन संवर्धिता बाला येन सम परिरक्षिता: । स मया राज्यलुब्धेन पापेन गुरुघातिना
yena saṁvardhitā bālā yena sama-parirakṣitāḥ | sa mayā rājya-lubdhena pāpena guru-ghātinā
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Those very elders by whom we were nurtured as children, and by whom we were equally protected—those have been slain by me, a sinner, driven by greed for kingship, a killer of my own revered elders.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of harming those who once nurtured and protected us. Even when war is fought under claims of duty, the inner moral reckoning remains: ambition for power can stain one’s conscience, and violence against elders/teachers is felt as a grave transgression demanding reflection and atonement.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira laments that the very venerable figures who raised and safeguarded the princes have perished, and he blames himself—calling himself greedy for the kingdom and guilty of killing revered elders—expressing the deep remorse that frames the moral inquiries of the Śānti Parva.