Shloka 72
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
जीवनाशं प्रणष्टानां श्राद्ध कुर्वन्ति मानवा: । अर्थतस्ते मम मृतास्तेषां चाहं जनार्दन
vaiśampāyana uvāca |
jīvanāśaṃ praṇaṣṭānāṃ śrāddhaṃ kurvanti mānavāḥ |
arthataste mama mṛtāsteṣāṃ cāhaṃ janārdana ||
Dijo Vaiśampāyana: «Oh Janārdana, por aquellos que han desaparecido al perder la vida, los hombres realizan los ritos de śrāddha. Si ‘morir’ no significa más que volverse invisible, entonces, en ese sentido, los Pāṇḍava ya han muerto para mí—y yo también estoy como muerta para ellos, oh Janārdana.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how social-ritual definitions (like performing śrāddha for the ‘departed’) can be used to express an ethical-emotional truth: when loved ones are effectively unreachable or ‘as good as gone,’ the pain of separation can feel like death itself.
In the Udyoga Parva’s tense pre-war setting, the speaker addresses Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa) and argues that if death is understood as becoming unseen or inaccessible, then the Pāṇḍavas are effectively ‘dead’ to her—underscoring despair and the gravity of the rupture caused by the conflict.