Shloka 19
परिणामश्न वयस: सर्वबन्धुक्षयश्व मे,अब मेरा बुढ़ापा आ गया, सारे बन्धु-बान्धवोंका विनाश हो गया और दैववश मेरे सुहृदों तथा मित्रोंका भी अन्त हो गया। भला, इस भूमण्डलमें अब मुझसे बढ़कर महान् दुःखी दूसरा कौन होगा?
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | pariṇāmaś ca vayasas sarva-bandhu-kṣayaś ca me | daiva-vaśāc ca me suhṛdāṁ mitrāṇāṁ cāpy antas samupasthitaḥ | bhūmaṇḍale ’smin mayā duḥkhitataro ’nyaḥ kaḥ syāt ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “The inevitable change of age has overtaken me; all my kinsmen have been destroyed. And by the force of fate, even my well-wishers and friends have met their end. Tell me—upon this whole earth, who could be more grievously afflicted than I?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the crushing moral and emotional aftermath of adharma-driven conflict: when one’s choices culminate in ruin, even kingship cannot shield one from grief. It also frames suffering through the twin lenses of time (aging) and daiva (fate), prompting reflection on responsibility, impermanence, and the cost of attachment.
In the opening of the Strī Parva, after the catastrophic war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks in despair. He reflects that old age has come upon him and that his entire family line has been destroyed; even his friends and well-wishers are gone. He asks rhetorically who on earth could be more miserable than he.