Shloka 11
कुन्ती-युधिष्ठिरसंवादः
Kuntī–Yudhiṣṭhira Dialogue on Bhīma’s Mission
अद्य पाण्डुर्मुतो राजा मम भ्राता महायशा: । तेषु वीरेषु दग्धेषु मात्रा सह विशेषतः,“अहो! मातासहित इन शूरवीर पाण्डवोंके दग्ध हो जानेपर विशेषरूपसे ऐसा लगता है, मानो मेरे भाई महायशस्वी राजा पाण्डुकी मृत्यु आज हुई है
adya pāṇḍur mṛto rājā mama bhrātā mahāyaśāḥ | teṣu vīreṣu dagdheṣu mātrā saha viśeṣataḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Today it feels as though King Pāṇḍu—my illustrious brother—has died anew. For when those heroic sons have been burned, and especially when their mother too is said to have perished with them, the grief returns with a force as if the old loss has happened again.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how the suffering of one’s dependents and lineage can revive earlier grief, underscoring the ethical weight of kinship (bandhutva) and responsibility: a father’s loss is felt again when his children are believed destroyed, especially alongside their mother.
In the context of the report that the Pāṇḍava heroes have been burned (with their mother), the speaker expresses that this calamity makes it feel as though King Pāṇḍu’s death has occurred again—an intensification of sorrow triggered by the supposed destruction of Pāṇḍu’s heirs.