Shloka 27
स्त्रीपर्व — अध्याय १५: गान्धारी-युधिष्ठिर-संवादः
Gandhārī’s Confrontation and Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira
नहि मे जीवितेनार्थो न राज्येन धनेन वा । तादृशान् सुहृदो हत्वा मूढस्यास्य सुहृदद्गुह:,“मैं अपने सुहृदोंका द्रोही और अविवेकी हूँ। वैसे-वैसे श्रेष्ठ सुहदोंका वध करके अब मुझे जीवन, राज्य अथवा धनसे कोई प्रयोजन नहीं है”
nahi me jīvitena artho na rājyena dhanena vā | tādṛśān suhṛdo hatvā mūḍhasyāsya suhṛd-drohaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Life holds no value for me now—nor kingship, nor wealth. Having slain such noble friends, I, in my folly, stand condemned as a betrayer of my own well-wishers.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical collapse that follows betrayal and violence against one’s own well-wishers: when righteous bonds are destroyed, worldly gains like life, power, and wealth lose their meaning, and remorse becomes the dominant moral consequence.
In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra slaughter, the narration conveys a speaker’s self-condemnation: having caused the death of valued allies and friends, he declares that survival, sovereignty, and riches are now worthless, framing the post-war mood of lamentation central to Strī Parva.