Shloka 4
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
यस्यांके क्रीडमानेन मया वै परिवर्तितम् । स मया राज्यलुब्धेन गांगेयो युधि पातित:,जिनकी गोदीमें खेलता हुआ मैं लोटपोट हो जाता था, उन्हीं पितामह गंगानन्दन भीष्मजीको मैंने राज्यके लोभसे मरवा डाला
yasyāṅke krīḍamānena mayā vai parivartitam | sa mayā rājyalu-bdhena gāṅgeyo yudhi pātitaḥ ||
યુધિષ્ઠિરે કહ્યું— જેનાં અંકમાં હું બાળપણમાં રમતો રમતો લોટપોટ થતો, એ જ ગંગાનંદન પિતામહ ભીષ્મને મેં રાજ્યલોભથી યુદ્ધમાં પાતિત કરાવ્યા.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of ambition: even a war fought under claims of duty can leave deep moral residue when it results in harm to revered elders. Yudhiṣṭhira’s confession frames kingship not as a prize but as a responsibility that must be examined through conscience, reverence, and dharma.
In Śānti Parva, after the war, Yudhiṣṭhira is overwhelmed by grief and self-reproach. Here he laments that Bhīṣma—once an affectionate elder on whose lap he played—was brought down in the battle, and he attributes this to his own longing for the kingdom.