Shloka 73
Chapter 47: Krauñca-vyūha Deployment and Conch-Signals
Kaurava–Pāṇḍava Readiness
युधिछिर उवाच हन्त पृच्छामि ते तस्मादाचार्य शृणु मे वच: । इत्युक्त्वा व्यथितो राजा नोवाच गतचेतन:,युधिष्ठिर बोले--आचार्य! इसलिये अब मैं आपसे पूछता हूँ। आप मेरी बात सुनिये। इतना कहकर राजा युधिष्ठिर व्यथित और अचेत-से होकर उनसे कुछ भी बोल न सके
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: hanta pṛcchāmi te tasmād ācārya śṛṇu me vacaḥ | ity uktvā vyathito rājā novāca gatacetanaḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Well then, therefore I ask you, O teacher—listen to my words.” Having said this, the king, shaken with anguish and as though bereft of consciousness, could speak no further. The moment frames a moral crisis: even a righteous ruler, facing the weight of war and duty, can be overwhelmed before he can fully articulate his question.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical weight of dharma in wartime: even a virtuous king seeks guidance from a teacher, yet grief and inner conflict can momentarily silence him. It underscores humility before moral complexity and the need for counsel when judgment is clouded by suffering.
Yudhiṣṭhira begins to pose a question to his ācārya, urging him to listen, but he becomes overwhelmed—distressed and nearly unconscious—and cannot continue speaking. The scene sets up an impending inquiry born from anguish amid the war setting of the Bhīṣma Parva.