Shloka 50
धृतराष्ट्रविलापः — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Inquiry (Śalya-parva, Adhyāya 2)
इमामवस्थां प्राप्तस्य लूनपक्षस्य संजय । सामर्थ्यशाली संजय! मेरे लिये वनवासके सिवा और कोई कार्य श्रेष्ठ नहीं जान पड़ता। अब कुट॒म्बीजनोंका विनाश हो जानेपर बन्धु-बान्धवोंसे रहित हो मैं वनमें ही चला जाऊँगा। संजय! पंख कटे हुए पक्षीकी भाँति इस अवस्थाको पहुँचे हुए मेरे लिये वनवास स्वीकार करनेके सिवा दूसरा कोई श्रेयस्कर कार्य नहीं है ।। दुर्योधनो हतो यत्र शल्यश्न निहतो युधि,एकेन समरे येन हतं पुत्रशतं मम | जब दुर्योधन मारा गया, शल्यका युद्धमें संहार हो गया तथा दुःशासन, विविंशति और महाबली विकर्ण भी मार डाले गये, तब मैं उस भीमसेनका उच्चस्वरसे कहा गया वचन कैसे सुनूँगा, जिसने अकेले ही समरांगणमें मेरे सौ पुत्रोंका वध कर डाला है
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca |
imām avasthāṁ prāptasya lūnapakṣasya sañjaya |
śreyas tv anyan na paśyāmi vanavāsād ṛte 'nagha ||
vināśe tu kulasyāsya bāndhavair vinivartitaḥ |
vanam evābhigacchāmi pakṣīva chinnapakṣakaḥ ||
duryodhano hato yatra śalyaś ca nihato yudhi |
ekeneha raṇe yena hataṁ putraśataṁ mama ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Sañjaya, having fallen into this condition—like a bird whose wings have been cut—I see no better course for myself than withdrawal to the forest. Now that my household has been destroyed and I am bereft of kinsmen and allies, I shall go to the forest alone. For one who has reached such a state, forest-dwelling alone seems truly salutary. Where Duryodhana has been slain, where Śalya has fallen in battle, and where my hundred sons have been killed by a single warrior in the fight—how shall I endure to hear the loud words of Bhīmasena in such a world?”
धघतयाट्र उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames catastrophic loss as a moment of moral and existential reckoning: when power, lineage, and social supports collapse, the only ‘śreyas’ (truly beneficial course) may be withdrawal, restraint, and acceptance. It highlights the ethical weight of war—kula-kṣaya—and the inner consequence of choices driven by attachment and partiality.
After hearing of the decisive deaths in the war—Duryodhana and Śalya among them—Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to Sañjaya in despair. Feeling helpless like a wing-clipped bird and bereft of family, he declares that he will go to the forest, and he dreads facing the triumphant words of Bhīma, who slew his hundred sons.