Shloka 22
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
वहाँ यत्र-तत्र बहुत-से मुर्दे बिखरे पड़े थे, उनमेंसे किसीके शरीरसे रुधिर और मेद बहते थे, किसीके बाहु, ऊरु, पेट और हाथ-पैर कट गये थे ।।
sa tat-kuṇapa-durgandham aśivaṁ lomaharṣaṇam | jagāma rājā dharmātmā madhye bahu vicintayan ||
Dijo Vaiśaṃpāyana: El rey justo, Yudhiṣṭhira, avanzó por aquel mismo sendero—hediondo por el tufo de los cadáveres en descomposición, funesto y erizante—mientras revolvía en su interior innumerables pensamientos. La escena era atroz e infausta; aun así, prosiguió, cargado de reflexión moral en medio de los restos de la violencia.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a dharmic person must confront the consequences of violence without denial: the king proceeds through an inauspicious, horrifying scene while reflecting deeply, suggesting that ethical life includes sober reckoning with suffering and the moral weight of actions.
As narrated by Vaiśaṃpāyana, King Yudhiṣṭhira continues along a path filled with the stench and horror of decaying corpses; despite the terrifying, ill-omened surroundings, he moves forward while absorbed in anxious contemplation.