Shloka 40
अद्य राजा महत् कृच्छू संत्यक्ष्यति युधिष्ठिर:
adya rājā mahat kṛcchū saṃtyakṣyati yudhiṣṭhiraḥ
Sañjaya said: “Today King Yudhiṣṭhira will abandon (endure and relinquish) a great hardship.” In the moral atmosphere of the war, the line signals a turning point where the righteous king, long burdened by grief, responsibility, and inner conflict, is about to cast off a severe trial—whether by overcoming it through resolve or by being forced beyond it by events on the battlefield.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the most dharma-minded leader must face crushing trials; the verse highlights the ethical weight of kingship in war and suggests that endurance and the eventual casting off of suffering are part of righteous perseverance.
Sañjaya, narrating the battlefield events, indicates that on this day Yudhiṣṭhira is about to be freed from—or forced to relinquish—a major distress, implying an imminent development that changes his burdened state.