Shloka 22
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
कृष्णं च पुण्डरीकाक्षं किल्बिषी भ्रूणहा यथा । मैंने राज्यके लोभमें पड़कर जब पर्वतोंपर उत्पन्न हुए सिंहके समान पराक्रमी अभिमन्युको द्रोणाचार्यद्वारा सुरक्षित कौरवसेनामें झोंक दिया, तभीसे भ्रूण-हत्या करनेवाले पापीके समान मैं अर्जुन तथा कमलनयन श्रीकृष्णकी ओर आँख उठाकर देख नहीं पाता हूँ ।। द्रौपदी चापि दुःखार्ता पञ्चपुत्रैर्विनाकृताम्
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | kṛṣṇaṃ ca puṇḍarīkākṣaṃ kilbiṣī bhrūṇahā yathā | mayā rājyasya lobhena patitena yadā parvatopajātasiṃhasamaparākramam abhimanyum droṇācāryarakṣitāyāṃ kauravasenāyāṃ prākṣiptam | tadāprabhṛti bhrūṇahatyāpāpīva ahaṃ arjunaṃ ca kamalanayanaṃ śrīkṛṣṇaṃ ca ūrdhvaṃ cakṣuṣā draṣṭuṃ na śaknomi || draupadī cāpi duḥkhārtā pañcaputrair vinākṛtā |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “I cannot raise my eyes to Arjuna or to lotus-eyed Kṛṣṇa, as though I were a sinner guilty of foeticide. For, having fallen into greed for kingship, I hurled Abhimanyu—lion-like in valor, as if born among mountains—into the Kaurava host that was guarded by Droṇa. From that moment onward, I have been unable to look up at them. And Draupadī too, tormented by grief, has been left bereft of her five sons.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral accountability in leadership: desire for power (rājya-lobha) can drive decisions that cause irreparable harm, and the resulting guilt can be so severe that one feels unworthy even to meet the gaze of the righteous. It also shows how war’s consequences extend beyond the battlefield into enduring ethical and familial suffering.
Yudhiṣṭhira confesses that, driven by ambition for the kingdom, he effectively sent Abhimanyu into a deadly situation against the Kaurava forces guarded by Droṇa. He compares his shame to that of a person guilty of the gravest sin and says he cannot look at Arjuna or Kṛṣṇa. He adds that Draupadī is likewise devastated, having lost her five sons.