Shloka 11
Babhruvāhana’s Lament and Appeal for Expiation (प्रायश्चित्त-याचना)
त्वयि प्राणा ममायत्ता: कुरूणां कुरुनन्दन । स कस्मात् प्राणदो<न्येषां प्राणात् संत्यक्तवानसि,“कुरुनन्दन! मेरे और कौरवोंके प्राण तुम्हारे ही अधीन हैं। तुम तो दूसरोंके प्राणदाता हो, तुमने स्वयं कैसे प्राण त्याग दिये?”
tvayi prāṇā mamāyattāḥ kurūṇāṁ kurunandana | sa kasmāt prāṇado 'nyeṣāṁ prāṇāt saṁtyaktavān asi ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O joy of the Kurus, my very life—and the lives of the Kuru people—depend upon you. You who have been a giver and protector of others’ lives: how is it that you have yourself abandoned your own life?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of responsibility: one who sustains others—especially a protector or leader—must recognize that many lives depend on him. Abandoning one’s own life is portrayed not merely as personal withdrawal but as a moral rupture affecting dependents.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating the events, voices a lament addressed to a Kuru hero (Kurunandana). The speaker expresses shock that someone regarded as a ‘giver of life’ to others has himself relinquished life, emphasizing the dependence of the narrator and the Kuru people upon him.