Shloka 71
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
इतश्नतुर्दशं वर्ष यन्नापश्यं॑ युधिष्ठिरम् । धनंजयं च गोविन्द यमौ तं॑ च वृकोदरम्,“गोविन्द! चौदहवाँ वर्ष है, जबसे कि मैं युधिष्ठिर भीमसेन, अर्जुन तथा नकुल- सहदेवको नहीं देख पा रही हूँ
itaś caturdaśaṁ varṣaṁ yan nāpaśyaṁ yudhiṣṭhiram | dhanaṁjayaṁ ca govinda yamau taṁ ca vṛkodaram ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Govinda, it is now the fourteenth year since I have not seen Yudhiṣṭhira, nor Dhanaṃjaya (Arjuna), nor the twin brothers (Nakula and Sahadeva), nor that Vṛkodara (Bhīma).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights steadfast endurance through prolonged hardship: separation and suffering are borne while remaining faithful to dharma and to solemn commitments (the exile and its conditions), sustaining hope for a just return.
A speaker addresses Kṛṣṇa as Govinda and laments that it has been fourteen years since seeing the Pāṇḍavas—Yudhiṣṭhira, Arjuna, Bhīma, and the twins—evoking the long period of their exile and concealment and the emotional cost to those left behind.