Shloka 26
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)
अस्मदद्वेषेण संतप्त: सुखं न स्मेह विन्दति । ऋद्धिमस्मासु तां दृष्टवा विवर्णो हरिण: कृश:
asmad-adveṣeṇa santaptaḥ sukhaṁ na smeha vindati | ṛddhim asmāsu tāṁ dṛṣṭvā vivarṇo hariṇaḥ kṛśaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Burned by his hatred toward us, he finds no happiness here. Seeing the prosperity that has come to us, he grows pale—like a deer grown thin.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Hatred and envy are self-consuming: when a person fixates on another’s success with malice, the mind burns and cannot taste happiness. The verse frames prosperity as a test of character—one who lacks inner discipline becomes visibly diminished by jealousy.
Yudhiṣṭhira describes an opponent or ill-wisher who, seeing the Pandavas’ rise in fortune, is distressed and loses composure and vitality—likened to a deer that turns pale and thin from fear and strain.