Shloka 15
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
तेषां कामदु्घाल्लोकानिन्द्र: संकल्पयिष्यति । इन्द्रस्यातिथयो होते भवन्ति भरतर्षभ,भरतश्रेष्ठ! इन्द्र उन वीरोंके लिये इच्छानुसार भोग प्रदान करनेवाले लोकोंकी व्यवस्था करेंगे। वे सब-के-सब इन्द्रके अतिथि होंगे
teṣāṁ kāmadughān lokān indraḥ saṅkalpayiṣyati | indrasya atithayo hote bhavanti bharatarṣabha |
Vidura says: “Indra will arrange for those heroes worlds that yield every desired enjoyment. O bull among the Bharatas, they will all become guests of Indra.” The statement consoles the bereaved by framing the warriors’ death within a moral cosmos: valor and duty fulfilled in battle lead not to loss alone, but to honored reception and fitting recompense in the divine realm.
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches that those who meet death while upholding their rightful duty—especially warriors who fought with valor—are not merely lost; they are honored in the divine order. Indra’s ‘wish-fulfilling worlds’ symbolize moral recompense and the restoration of dignity to those who fulfilled dharma amid the devastation of war.
In the aftermath of the great slaughter, Vidura offers consolation to the grieving Bharata household. He asserts that Indra will provide the fallen heroes with heavenly realms of enjoyment and will receive them as honored guests, reframing the tragedy through the lens of cosmic justice and honor.