Shloka 25
Gaṅgā-tīra Udaka-kriyā and Kuntī’s Disclosure of Karṇa’s Maternity
Strī-parva, Adhyāya 27
एवं विलप्य बहुलं धर्मराजो युधिष्ठिर:,अभितो या: स्थितास्तत्र तस्मिन्नुदककर्मणि । राजन! इस प्रकार बहुत विलाप करके धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर फ़ूट-फूटकर रोने लगे। रोते- ही-रोते उन्होंने धीरे-धीरे कर्णके लिये जलदान किया। यह सब सुनकर वहाँ एकत्र हुई सारी स्त्रियाँ, जो वहाँ जलांजलि देनेके लिये सब ओर खड़ी थीं, सहसा जोर-जोरसे रोने लगीं
evaṃ vilapya bahulaṃ dharmarājo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ, abhito yāḥ sthitās tatra tasminn udakakarmaṇi |
Having lamented at length, Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira broke down in grief during the rite of water-offering. As he proceeded with the udaka-karman, the women standing all around for the same funerary observance were moved at once and began to weep aloud. The scene underscores how dharma, even amid unbearable sorrow, requires the living to complete the duties owed to the dead.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when overwhelmed by sorrow, one must uphold dharma by completing the prescribed duties toward the dead (such as udaka-karman). The verse highlights ethical steadiness: grief is natural, yet responsibility and reverence for the departed remain binding.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira, after prolonged lamentation, performs the water-offering rite; seeing this, the women gathered around for the same ritual are overcome and begin to cry loudly, intensifying the atmosphere of communal mourning after the war.