Shloka 29

Devanagari script

यथैव मम पुत्राणां लोका: शस्त्रजिता: प्रभो । एवमस्यापि दुर्बुद्धेलोका: शस्त्रेण वै जिता:,प्रभो! जैसे मेरे पुत्रोंको शस्त्रोंद्वारा जीते हुए पुण्यलोक प्राप्त हुए हैं, उसी प्रकार इस दुर्बद्धि शकुनिको भी शस्त्रद्वारा जीते हुए उत्तम लोक प्राप्त होंगे

Transliteration

yathaiva mama putrāṇāṃ lokāḥ śastrajitāḥ prabho | evam asyāpi durbuddher lokāḥ śastreṇa vai jitāḥ, prabho ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O lord, just as my sons have attained blessed worlds won through the power of weapons, so too will this evil-minded Śakuni attain worlds won by weapons.”

Word by Word

यथाjust as

एवindeed/just

ममof me / my

पुत्राणाम्of (my) sons

लोकाःworlds/realms

शस्त्रजिताःwon by weapons

प्रभोO lord

एवम्thus/in the same way

अस्यof this (one) / his

अपिalso/even

दुर्बुद्धेःof the evil-minded (one)

लोकाःworlds/realms

शस्त्रेणby/with a weapon

वैindeed/certainly

जिताःwon/conquered

प्रभोO lord

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Śakuni

sons (putrāḥ)

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 reflects the epic idea that one’s posthumous destination can be framed in terms of the means by which one lived and died: martial action yields “weapon-won” realms. It also carries an ethical tension—placing a notorious wrongdoer (Śakuni) under the same formula highlights how the Mahābhārata often distinguishes personal virtue from the impersonal workings of duty, role, and the consequences of war.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war (Strīparvan context of lamentation and reckoning), Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a statement comparing the fate of the speaker’s sons—who reached realms gained through battle—with the fate of Śakuni, asserting that even he will reach such “weapon-won” worlds.