Shloka 143
को हि मे जीवितेनार्थस्तमृते पुरुषर्षभम् । शत्रुओंपर असंख्य बाणोंकी वर्षा करनेवाला वह शूरवीर युद्धमें मार डाला गया। उस पुरुषशिरोमणिके बिना मेरे इस जीवनसे क्या प्रयोजन है?
ko hi me jīvitena arthaḥ tam ṛte puruṣarṣabham | śatrūṇām upari asaṅkhyabāṇavarṣaṃ karṇeśvaraḥ sa śūro yuddhe nihataḥ | tasmin puruṣaśiromaṇau vinā mama jīvitena kiṃ prayojanam ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : «À quoi me sert la vie sans ce taureau parmi les hommes ? Ce héros qui accablait les ennemis d’une pluie innombrable de flèches a été tué au combat. Privé de ce premier des hommes, que vaut encore cette vie pour moi ?»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how intense attachment to a person or outcome can collapse one’s sense of meaning when loss occurs. In the Mahābhārata’s ethical frame, it implicitly warns that clinging to power and victory in war leads to sorrow, whereas steadiness in dharma requires inner resilience amid inevitable change.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra reacts to the report that the great warrior (contextually Karṇa) has been killed. He recalls the hero’s battlefield prowess—showering innumerable arrows on enemies—and expresses despair, questioning the value of his own life without that champion.