Shloka 57
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
त एव युद्धे हन्यन्ते यवीयान् मुच्यते जन: । हत्वाप्यनुशयो नित्यं परानपि जनार्दन,जो लोग धीर-वीर, लज्जाशील, श्रेष्ठ और दयालु हैं, वे ही प्राय: युद्धमें मारे जाते हैं और अधम श्रेणीके मनुष्य जीवित बच जाते हैं। जनार्दन! शत्रुओंको मारनेपर भी उनके लिये सदा मनमें पश्चात्ताप बना रहता है
ta eva yuddhe hanyante yavīyān mucyate janaḥ | hatvāpy anuśayo nityaṃ parān api janārdana ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “It is those very men—steadfast and noble—who are slain in war, while the baser sort often escape alive. And even after killing one’s foes, O Janārdana, an unending remorse remains within the heart for those who have been struck down.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral cost of warfare: even when fighting is framed as necessary, killing leaves a persistent inner remorse. It also laments the tragic irony that the noble often perish while the ignoble survive.
In Udyoga Parva, as war becomes imminent, Yudhiṣṭhira voices anguish to Kṛṣṇa (Janārdana) about the injustice and ethical burden of battle—especially the sorrow that follows the slaying of opponents.