Shloka 39
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
एष एको महातेजा: पाण्डुपुत्रो धनंजय: । पिता च मम धर्मात्मा तस्य मे निष्कृति: कुतः
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
eṣa eko mahātejāḥ pāṇḍuputro dhanaṃjayaḥ |
pitā ca mama dharmātmā tasya me niṣkṛtiḥ kutaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Este, Dhanaṃjaya (Arjuna), hijo de Pāṇḍu, era sin igual, un hombre de gran esplendor. Y además era mi padre, de corazón justo. Al causar su muerte he incurrido en un pecado gravísimo; ¿de dónde podrá venir ahora mi expiación y mi liberación?»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when the slain is a celebrated hero and dharmic person, the speaker foregrounds moral accountability: the burden of wrongdoing is not erased by circumstance, and one must seek niṣkṛti (expiation) through dharmic means.
Vaiśampāyana reports a lament in which the speaker identifies Dhanaṃjaya (Arjuna) as uniquely radiant and also as his own righteous father, then confesses the sin of having caused his death and asks how any expiation or release could be possible.