Shloka 69
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
न मां माधव वैधव्यं नार्थनाशो न वैरता | तथा शोकाय दहति यथा पुत्रर्विनाभव:
na māṃ mādhava vaidhavyaṃ nārthanāśo na vairatā | tathā śokāya dahati yathā putrair vinābhavaḥ ||
Wahai Mādhava! Bukan janda, bukan pula lenyapnya harta, dan bukan juga membesarnya permusuhan dengan sanak sendiri yang membakarku oleh duka; melainkan keadaan tanpa putra-putraku inilah yang paling menghanguskan hatiku.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse ranks sufferings: social and material calamities (widowhood, loss of wealth, hostility) are portrayed as less consuming than the grief of losing one’s children, highlighting the Mahābhārata’s emphasis on the profound ethical and emotional weight of familial bonds and the human cost that war threatens to impose.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war tension, a speaker addresses Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa) and confesses that the most unbearable anguish is not status, property, or feuds, but the painful absence of her sons—an appeal that underscores the looming catastrophe of the coming conflict.