Shloka 22

स्त्रीपर्व — अध्याय १५: गान्धारी-युधिष्ठिर-संवादः

Gandhārī’s Confrontation and Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira

Devanagari script

संतानमावयोस्तात वृद्धयोहतराज्ययो: । कथमन्धद्वयस्यास्य यष्टिरेका न वर्जिता,तात! हम दोनों बूढ़े हुए। हमारा राज्य भी तुमने छीन लिया। ऐसी दशामें हमारी एक ही संतानको--हम दो अन्थोंके लिये एक ही लाठीके सहारेको तुमने क्‍यों नहीं जीवित छोड़ दिया?

Transliteration

santānam āvayos tāta vṛddhayor hṛtarājyayoḥ | katham andhadvayasyāsya yaṣṭir ekā na varjitā ||

Translation

Bhīmasena said: “Dear one, we are both aged, and our kingdom has been taken away. In such a plight, why did you not spare our only child—our single support, like one staff for two blind men?”

Word by Word

संतानम्offspring, child

आवयोःof us two

तातdear son

वृद्धयोःof (us) two old (men)

हत-राज्ययोःof (us) two whose kingdom is destroyed/taken away

कथम्how? why?

अन्ध-द्वयस्यof this pair of blind (persons)

अस्यof this

यष्टिःstaff, support

एकाone, single

नnot

वर्जिताwas not spared/was not left (alive)

तातdear son

Speaker

भीमसेन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Bhīmasena

santāna (the child/offspring as a dependent/support)

yaṣṭi (staff, metaphorical support)

andha-dvaya (two blind men, metaphor)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames an ethical accusation: even amid conflict, destroying the last remaining support of the vulnerable (the aged, dispossessed, and dependent) is portrayed as a grave moral failure. The metaphor of “one staff for two blind men” highlights the duty to spare what sustains life and dignity.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the war’s devastation (Strī Parva’s lamentation setting), Bhīma speaks in anguish and reproach, emphasizing the helpless condition of the elderly who have lost their kingdom and depend on a single child for support, questioning why that sole support was not spared.