Shloka 233
आसीन एवमेवेदं शोषयिष्ये कलेवरम् । अतः मैं पापी, अपराधी तथा सम्पूर्ण भूमण्डलका विनाश करनेवाला हूँ; इसलिये यहीं इसी रूपमें बैठा हुआ अपने इस शरीरको सुखा डालूँगा
āsīna evam evedaṃ śoṣayiṣye kalevaram | ataḥ mayā pāpī aparādhī tathā sampūrṇa-bhūmaṇḍala-vināśa-kartā asmi; tasmād ihaiva īdṛśa-rūpeṇa āsīnaḥ svaṃ śarīraṃ śoṣayiṣye |
Yudhiṣṭhira berkata— “Dalam keadaan duduk seperti ini juga, akan kubiarkan tubuh ini menyusut dan layu. Sebab aku adalah pendosa, pelanggar dharma, dan penyebab kehancuran seluruh bumi; maka di sini, dalam sikap ini, akan kukeringkan tubuhku sendiri.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage highlights moral accountability after violence: even a righteous king can be overwhelmed by the ethical weight of war’s consequences, and the impulse toward self-punishment (austerity/fasting) arises from a desire for expiation and restoration of dharma.
Yudhiṣṭhira, burdened by the devastation following the great war, declares that he will remain seated and let his body waste away, judging himself a sinner and the cause of the earth’s ruin—an expression of intense remorse and a turn toward ascetic self-denial.