Shloka 24

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

प्रायोपविष्टं जानीध्वमथ मां गुरुघातिनम्‌

Transliteration

prāyopaviṣṭaṃ jānīdhvam atha māṃ gurughātinam

Translation

मुझे प्रायोपवेशन (मरण-पर्यन्त उपवास) का निश्चय कर बैठा हुआ जानो; और मुझे गुरुजनों का घात करनेवाला भी समझो।

Word by Word

• प्रायोपविष्टम्: one who has sat down for fasting unto death
• प्रायोपविष्टम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रायोपविष्ट (प्राय + उपविष्ट)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• जानीध्वम्: know (you all), understand
• जानीध्वम्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा
• Form: Imperative, Second, Plural, Parasmaipada

• अथ: then/now/and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ

• माम्: me
• माम्: Karma
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अहम्
• Form: Common, Accusative, Singular

• गुरुघातिनम्: slayer of (one's) teacher/elder
• गुरुघातिनम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुरुघातिन् (गुरु + घातिन्)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a righteous cause can leave moral residue when it involves violence against revered elders and teachers; Yudhiṣṭhira’s words highlight accountability, remorse, and the dharmic impulse toward atonement rather than self-justifying triumph.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks from a place of grief and self-condemnation, declaring that he has undertaken (or is resolved upon) fasting unto death and identifying himself as guilty of killing ‘gurus’—a way of naming the unbearable ethical weight of the conflict.