Shloka 233
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
आसीन एवमेवेदं शोषयिष्ये कलेवरम् । अतः मैं पापी, अपराधी तथा सम्पूर्ण भूमण्डलका विनाश करनेवाला हूँ; इसलिये यहीं इसी रूपमें बैठा हुआ अपने इस शरीरको सुखा डालूँगा
āsīna evam evedaṃ śoṣayiṣye kalevaram | ataḥ mayā pāpī aparādhī tathā sampūrṇa-bhūmaṇḍala-vināśa-kartā asmi; tasmād ihaiva īdṛśa-rūpeṇa āsīnaḥ svaṃ śarīraṃ śoṣayiṣye |
Dijo Yudhiṣṭhira: «Sentado tal como estoy, consumiré este cuerpo hasta dejarlo secar. Pues soy un pecador, un transgresor, y quien ha traído ruina sobre toda la tierra; por eso, aquí mismo y en esta postura, haré que mi cuerpo se agote y se seque.»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights moral accountability after violence: even a righteous king can be overwhelmed by the ethical weight of war’s consequences, and the impulse toward self-punishment (austerity/fasting) arises from a desire for expiation and restoration of dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira, burdened by the devastation following the great war, declares that he will remain seated and let his body waste away, judging himself a sinner and the cause of the earth’s ruin—an expression of intense remorse and a turn toward ascetic self-denial.