Shloka 14
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
ये च संग्रामभूमिष्ठा याचमाना: पराड्मुखा: । शस्त्रेण निधन प्राप्ता गतास्ते गुह्म॒कान् प्रति,जो संग्रामभूमिमें खड़े हो प्राणोंकी भीख माँगते हुए युद्धसे विमुख हो गये थे; उनमेंसे जो लोग शस्त्रद्वारा मारे गये हैं, वे गुह्दकलोकोंमें गये हैं
ye ca saṅgrāmabhūmiṣṭhā yācamānāḥ parāṅmukhāḥ | śastreṇa nidhanaṃ prāptā gatās te guhmakān prati ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Those who stood upon the battlefield yet, begging for their very lives, turned away from the fight—such men, when they met death by weapons, have gone to the realms of the Guhmakas.”
युधिछ्िर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links one’s mental stance in battle—turning away in fear and pleading for life—with a specific post-mortem consequence, implying that conduct and intention at the moment of crisis shape one’s karmic destination.
In the aftermath of the war (Strī Parva), Yudhiṣṭhira asks about the fate of various categories of the slain. Here he refers to those who remained on the battlefield but lost resolve, begged for life, and were then killed by weapons, stating that they have gone to the realms of the Guhmakas.