Shloka 8
Āśvamedhika-parva Adhyāya 1 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament by the Gaṅgā and Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel
उत्तिष्ठ कुरुशार्टूल कुरु कार्यमनन्तरम् | क्षत्रधर्मेण कौन्तेय जितेयमवनी त्वया,“कुरुवंशके सिंह! कुन्तीकुमार! उठो और इसके बाद जो कार्य प्राप्त है, उसे पूर्ण करो। तुमने क्षत्रियधर्मके अनुसार इस पृथ्वीपर विजय पायी है
uttistha kuruśārṭūla kuru kāryam anantaram | kṣatradharmeṇa kaunteya jiteyam avanī tvayā ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Rise, tiger among the Kurus. Accomplish without delay the task that now lies before you. O son of Kuntī, by the dharma of a kṣatriya you have won this earth; therefore proceed to the next duty that follows victory.”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Victory is not an end in itself; it creates an immediate ethical obligation. Having gained sovereignty through kṣatriya-dharma, the king must rise from inertia and complete the next rightful task—governance, restoration of order, and the duties that follow conquest.
The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana reports an exhortation addressed to a Kuntī’s son, praised as ‘tiger among the Kurus.’ He is urged to stand up and promptly undertake the next required action, on the grounds that he has already secured the earth according to the warrior’s code.