Shloka 2736

Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting

Devanagari script

कृपणं वर्तयिष्यामस्तैहीना बन्धुभि: प्रियै: । “अनघ! तुम्हें अपने लिये शोक नहीं करना चाहिये, तुम्हारी प्रशंसनीय मृत्यु हो रही है। कुरुराज! अब तो सभी अवस्थाओंमें इस समय हमलोग ही शोचनीय हो गये हैं; क्योंकि उन प्रिय बन्धु-बान्धवोंसे रहित होकर हमें दीनतापूर्ण जीवन व्यतीत करना पड़ेगा

Transliteration

kṛpaṇaṃ vartayiṣyāmas tvad-vihīnā bandhubhiḥ priyaiḥ | anagha! tvaṃ na śocitavyaḥ svārthe, tava praśaṃsanīyā mṛtyur bhavati | kuru-rāja! idānīṃ sarvāsv avasthāsu asmin kāle vayam eva śocanīyāḥ saṃvṛttāḥ; yataḥ tair priya-bandhu-bāndhavair vihīnāḥ vayaṃ dīnatā-pūrṇaṃ jīvanaṃ vartayiṣyāmaḥ ||

Translation

Sañjaya says: “Bereft of you and of our beloved kinsmen, we shall have to carry on a wretched life. O blameless one, you should not grieve for your own sake—your death is worthy of praise. O king of the Kurus, in every condition at this moment it is we who have become the truly pitiable, for without those dear relatives and companions we must live on in helplessness.”

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'kṛpaṇam', 'definition': 'wretchedly, miserably

• in a pitiable condition'}, {'term': 'vartayiṣyāmaḥ', 'definition': 'we shall live/continue

• we shall carry on (life)'}, {'term': 'tvad-vihīnāḥ', 'definition': 'deprived of you

• without you'}, {'term': 'bandhubhiḥ priyaiḥ', 'definition': 'with beloved kinsmen/relations (instrumental

• implying their loss/absence)'}, {'term': 'anagha', 'definition': 'O blameless one

• faultless'}, {'term': 'śocitavyaḥ', 'definition': 'to be grieved for

• worthy of lamentation'}, {'term': 'praśaṃsanīyā mṛtyuḥ', 'definition': 'a death worthy of praise

• an honorable death'}, {'term': 'kuru-rāja', 'definition': 'O king of the Kurus (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)'}, {'term': 'śocanīyāḥ', 'definition': 'pitiable

• those who deserve to be lamented'}, {'term': 'priya-bandhu-bāndhava', 'definition': 'dear relatives and companions/kinsmen'}, {'term': 'dīnatā-pūrṇam jīvanam', 'definition': 'a life filled with helplessness/poverty of spirit

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra (Kuru-rāja)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The passage contrasts honorable death with the deeper suffering of those left behind: a righteous or valorous end may be ‘praiseworthy,’ while survivors must bear the ethical and emotional burden of loss and the emptiness of life without loved ones.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, addressing a fallen or departing figure as ‘blameless,’ saying that the person’s death is honorable; yet the real object of pity is the surviving side, now forced to live on bereft of dear kinsmen after the devastation of the war.