Shloka 9
धृतराष्ट्रस्य उपालम्भः तथा पाण्डव-समाश्वासनम् | Dhṛtarāṣṭra Reproved and the Pāṇḍavas Consoled
किं नु राज्येन ते कार्य पितृन् भ्रातृनपश्यतः । अभिमन्यु च दुर्धर्ष द्रौपदेयांश्व भारत,“भरतवंशी नरेश! अपने ताऊ, चाचा और भाइयोंको, दुर्जय वीर अभिमन्युको तथा द्रौपदीके सभी पुत्रोंको न देखनेपर इस राज्यसे आपका क्या प्रयोजन है?”
kiṁ nu rājyena te kāryaṁ pitṝn bhrātṝn apaśyataḥ | abhimanyuṁ ca durdharṣaṁ draupadeyāṁś ca bhārata ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “What use is this kingdom to you, when you no longer behold your elders and kinsmen—your fathers’ brothers and your own brothers—nor the unconquerable Abhimanyu, nor all the sons of Draupadī, O scion of Bharata? A sovereignty gained at the cost of one’s dearest is emptied of its purpose, for rule without one’s family and moral order becomes only a burden of grief.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse questions the value of political power when it is purchased through the loss of one’s own kin. It frames kingship as meaningful only when aligned with dharma and the welfare of one’s people and family; otherwise, sovereignty becomes hollow and morally troubling.
In the Stree Parva’s mourning context after the Kurukṣetra war, Vaiśampāyana voices a lament addressed to a Bhārata prince/king, pointing out that with the elders, brothers, Abhimanyu, and the Draupadeyas slain, the kingdom offers no real consolation or purpose.