Shloka 1
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
अत-४-णका+ त्रयस्त्रिंशो5 ध्याय: व्यासजीका युधिष्ठिरको समझाते हुए कालकी प्रबलता बताकर देवासुरसंग्रामके उदाहरणसे धर्मद्रोहियोंके दमनका ओऔचित्य सिद्ध करना और प्रायश्रित्त करनेकी आवश्यकता बनाना युधिछिर उवाच हताः पुत्राश्न पौत्राश्न भ्रातर: पितरस्तथा । श्वशुरा गुरवश्चैव मातुलाश्न पितामहा:
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: hatāḥ putrāś ca pautrāś ca bhrātaraḥ pitaras tathā | śvaśurā guravaś caiva mātulāś ca pitāmahāḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Grandfather, sons and grandsons have been slain; brothers and fathers as well. Fathers-in-law, revered teachers, maternal uncles, and grandfathers too—so many of my own kin have fallen. Driven by the lure of sovereignty, I have become the cause of the destruction of countless kṣatriya kings and relations who had gathered from many lands. In this, I see a grave moral burden and a stain upon dharma.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the ethical weight of violence even when undertaken within a kṣatriya context: Yudhiṣṭhira recognizes the vast kin-slaying and frames it as a moral burden, preparing the ground for instruction on dharma, restraint, and the need for expiation (prāyaścitta).
In Śānti Parva, after the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira addresses his ‘Grandfather’ (Bhīṣma) and laments the deaths of close relatives and elders, attributing the catastrophe to his own desire for kingship and seeking guidance on what is righteous to do next.