Shloka 23
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
यान् सुपर्णाश्च गृध्राश्न विकर्षन्ति यतस्तत: । तेषां तु कर्मणा लोका भविष्यन्ति युधिष्ठिर,युधिष्ठि!
Yudhiṣṭhira dit : «Ces cadavres que les suparṇas (grands oiseaux) et les vautours traînent çà et là en tous sens—ces hommes tombés atteindront-ils des mondes favorables par le seul śrāddha, le rite funéraire accompli pour eux ?»
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse raises a dharmic concern: when the dead are mutilated or left uncremated due to war, do they still gain auspicious posthumous states through the living’s performance of śrāddha and related rites? It foregrounds the ethical responsibility of survivors to honor the dead even amid devastation.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra slaughter described in Strī Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira, overwhelmed by the sight of bodies being dragged and consumed by birds, questions the efficacy and necessity of funerary rites for those whose remains are scattered and desecrated.