Shloka 14
आदि पर्व (अध्याय १२७) — रङ्गे कर्णस्य अवमानः, दुर्योधनस्य प्रतिपक्ष-निवृत्तिः, मैत्री-स्थापनम् / Ādi Parva (Chapter 127) — Karṇa’s Public Humiliation, Duryodhana’s Intervention, and the Formation of Alliance
ब्राह्मणा: क्षत्रिया वैश्या: शूद्राश्वैव सहस्रश: | रुदनत: शोकसंतप्ता अनुजम्मुर्नराधिपम्,पुरोहितलोग सफेद वस्त्र धारण करके अग्निहोत्रकी अग्निमें आहुति डालते जाते थे। वे अग्नियाँ माला आदिसे अलंकृत एवं प्रज्वलित हो पाण्डुकी पालकीके आगे-आगे चल रही थीं। सहसों ब्राह्मण, क्षत्रिय, वैश्य और शूद्र शोकसे संतप्त हो रोते हुए महाराज पाण्डुकी शिबिकाके पीछे जा रहे थे
brāhmaṇāḥ kṣatriyā vaiśyāḥ śūdrāś caiva sahasraśaḥ | rudantaḥ śokasaṃtaptā anujagmur narādhipam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: Thousands of Brāhmaṇas, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras—overwhelmed by grief—followed the king, weeping. The scene underscores a collective mourning that cuts across social orders, portraying the ruler’s death as a public loss and a moment of shared human vulnerability.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the universality of grief and the social responsibility surrounding kingship: a ruler’s life and death affect the entire community, and mourning becomes a shared, cross-varṇa human response rather than a private event.
A large crowd—Brahmins, warriors, merchants, and servants—follows the king’s bier/procession, crying and grief-stricken, indicating a major royal death and a public funeral context.