Shloka 19
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
क्षत्रियास्ते महात्मान: शूरा: समितिशो भना: । आशिष: परमा: प्राप्ता न शोच्या: सर्व एव हि,वे महामनस्वी वीर क्षत्रिय युद्धमें शोभा पानेवाले थे, अतः उन्होंने अपनी कामनाओंके अनुरूप उत्तम लोक प्राप्त किये हैं। उन सबके लिये शोक करना तो किसी प्रकार उचित ही नहीं है
kṣatriyās te mahātmānaḥ śūrāḥ samitiśobhanāḥ | āśiṣaḥ paramāḥ prāptā na śocyāḥ sarva eva hi ||
Vidura says: “Those men were kṣatriyas of great spirit—heroes who shone in the clash of battle. Having attained the highest fulfillment they sought, they have reached the excellent worlds allotted to such warriors. Therefore, none of them are truly fit to be mourned.”
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura reframes grief through kṣatriya-dharma: warriors who die fulfilling their duty in righteous battle are said to attain exalted worlds; therefore excessive lamentation is ethically misplaced and should be tempered by understanding of duty and destiny.
In Strī Parva, amid the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra slaughter and the lamentations of the women, Vidura speaks words of counsel and consolation, pointing out that the fallen were heroic kṣatriyas who met a valorous end and thus are not to be mourned as if they had met an ignoble fate.