Shloka 19
दानपात्रापात्र-निर्णयः / Determining Worthy Gifts, Recipients, and Permissible Food
घातयित्वा तमेवाजी छलेनाजिद्दायोधिनम् | उपसम्प्रष्टमहामि तमहं केन हेतुना
ghātayitvā tam evājau chalena ajiddāyodhinam | upasaṁpraṣṭum icchāmi tam ahaṁ kena hetunā |
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Having caused him to be slain in battle by deceit—him, Bhīṣma, who was unconquered in combat—on what grounds can I now approach him and question him? After bringing about this vast and hair-raising destruction of my own kinsmen, I feel myself guilty before all worlds; I have laid waste the whole earth. How can I even show my face to him?”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral accountability after violence: even a ‘just’ victory can be ethically stained when achieved through deceit, and genuine dharma requires humility, remorse, and seeking instruction from the wise—yet without self-excusing one’s wrongdoing.
After the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira is overwhelmed by grief and guilt. Remembering that Bhīṣma—an undefeated warrior—was brought down through a stratagem, he doubts his own worthiness to approach Bhīṣma and ask him questions on dharma and governance.