Shloka 16
अध्याय ७१ — द्रोणव्यूहरक्षा तथा समकालीन द्वन्द्वयुद्धानि
Protection of Droṇa’s formation and parallel duels
यां योगिनो ध्यानविविक्तदर्शना: प्रयान्ति यां चोत्तमयज्विनो जना: । तपोभिरिद्धैरनुयान्ति यां तथा तामक्षयां ते तनयो गतो गतिम्,जिन्होंने ध्यानके द्वारा पवित्र ज्ञानमयी दृष्टि प्राप्त कर ली है, वे योगी निष्कामभावसे उत्तम यज्ञ करनेवाले पुरुष तथा अपनी उज्ज्वल तपस्याओंद्वारा तपस्वी मुनि जिस अक्षय गतिको पाते हैं, तुम्हारे पुत्रने भी वही गति प्राप्त की है
yāṁ yogino dhyāna-vivikta-darśanāḥ prayānti yāṁ cottama-yajvino janāḥ | tapobhir iddhair anuyānti yāṁ tathā tām akṣayāṁ te tanayo gato gatim ||
Vyāsa said: “The imperishable state that contemplative yogins reach through meditation and purified insight, that the foremost performers of selfless sacrifice attain, and that ascetics follow by the radiance of their austerities—your son has gone to that very deathless goal.”
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
True ‘imperishable’ attainment is described as accessible through multiple dharmic paths—meditative yoga with purified insight, selfless sacrificial action (yajña), and radiant austerity (tapas). The verse frames death not merely as loss but as a transition to a higher, enduring destiny when life has aligned with dharma.
Vyāsa consoles a grieving parent by declaring that the fallen son has reached the same exalted, undecaying state attained by accomplished yogins, exemplary sacrificers, and great ascetics—recasting the son’s death within a moral-spiritual horizon rather than only the battlefield’s tragedy.