Shloka 3
कि निमित्तं स नित्यं हि पार्थ: सुखविवर्जित: । अतीव विजयो धीमन्निति मे दूयते मनः,इसका क्या कारण है? बुद्धिमान् जनार्दन! जब मैं एकान्तमें बैठकर अर्जुनके बारेमें विचार करता हूँ, तब यह जानकर मेरा मन खिन्न हो जाता है कि हमलोगोंमें वे ही सदा सबसे अधिक दु:खके भागी रहे हैं। पाण्डुनन्दन अर्जुन सुखसे वंचित क्यों रहते हैं? यह समझमें नहीं आता
kiṁ nimittaṁ sa nityaṁ hi pārthaḥ sukhavivarjitaḥ | atīva vijayo dhīmann iti me dūyate manaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “For what reason is Pārtha (Arjuna) always, as it seems, deprived of happiness? Though he is exceedingly victorious, O wise Janārdana, my heart is pained by this thought. When I sit alone and reflect on Arjuna, I become sorrowful, realizing that among us he has continually borne the greatest share of suffering. Why is Arjuna, the son of Pāṇḍu, kept away from ease and contentment?”
युधिष्ठिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a moral tension central to the Mahābhārata: outward success (vijaya) does not guarantee inner well-being (sukha). Yudhiṣṭhira’s compassion and self-scrutiny frame an ethical inquiry into why the most dutiful and capable person may still bear disproportionate suffering—inviting reflection on dharma, the costs of responsibility, and the limits of worldly achievement.
In the Aśvamedhika context after the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Kṛṣṇa (Janārdana). Sitting in solitude, he reflects on Arjuna’s life and feels grief that Arjuna—though repeatedly victorious—seems continually deprived of happiness. He asks Kṛṣṇa to explain the cause of this pattern of suffering.