Shloka 38
Bhīṣma on the Śara-Śayyā: Yudhiṣṭhira and Kṛṣṇa Approach the Eldest for Śānti
स पाण्डवेयस्य मन:समुत्थितं नरेन्द्र शोक॑ व्यपकर्ष मेधया । भवद्विधा हुत्तमबुद्धिविस्तरा विमुह्यमानस्य नरस्य शान्तये
sa pāṇḍaveyasya manaḥ-samutthitaṃ narendra śokaṃ vyapakarṣa medhayā | bhavad-vidhā hy uttama-buddhi-vistarā vimuhyamānasya narasya śāntaye ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O king, dispel with your discerning wisdom the grief that has surged up in the heart of Yudhiṣṭhira, the son of Pāṇḍu. Men of your kind—whose intellect is broad and excellent—are precisely those who can remove the sorrow and inner burning of a person bewildered by delusion and restore him to peace.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Grief born of inner turmoil and delusion is not ended by force but by medhā—clear, discerning wisdom—offered through compassionate counsel. Those with mature understanding have a duty to steady the bewildered and lead them back to śānti (peace).
Vaiśampāyana frames the scene of instruction: Yudhiṣṭhira is overwhelmed by sorrow, and the king being addressed is urged to use his superior intellect to remove that grief and pacify him—setting the tone for the Shānti Parva’s extended ethical and philosophical counsel after the war.