Shloka 25
स्वर्गे दुर्योधनदर्शनम् | Duryodhana Seen in Heaven
Triviṣṭapa
क्व नु ते पार्थिवान् ब्रद्मुन्नैतान् पश्यामि नारद । विराटद्रुपदौ चैव धृष्टकेतुमुखांश्व॒ तान्,*धृष्टद्युम्न, सात्यकि तथा धृष्टद्युम्नके पुत्रोंकी भी देखना चाहता हूँ। ब्रह्म! नारदजी! जो भूपाल क्षत्रियधर्मके अनुसार शस्त्रोंद्वारा वधको प्राप्त हुए हैं, वे कहाँ हैं? मैं इन राजाओंको यहाँ नहीं देखता हूँ। मैं इन समस्त राजाओंसे मिलना चाहता हूँ। विराट, द्रुपद, धृष्टकेतु आदि पाञज्चालराजकुमार शिखण्डी, द्रौपदीके सभी पुत्रों तथा दुर्धर्ष वीर अभिमन्युको भी मैं देखना चाहता हूँ”
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | kva nu te pārthivān brūhi munne tān na paśyāmi nārada | virāṭa-drupadau caiva dhṛṣṭaketumukhāṃś ca tān | śikhaṇḍinaṃ draupadeyāṃś ca sarvān durdharṣaṃ cābhimanyum api paśyituṃ icchāmi ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “O sage, tell me—where are those kings? O Nārada, I do not see them here. Where are Virāṭa and Drupada, and those led by Dhṛṣṭaketu? I wish to behold Śikhaṇḍin, all the sons of Draupadī, and the unconquerable hero Abhimanyu as well.” In this moment, the speaker’s longing is not for victory or reward but for reunion with those who met death in accordance with kṣatriya-dharma, highlighting the Mahābhārata’s ethical tension: righteous warfare still leaves an irreparable human absence.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when death occurs under the banner of righteous duty (kṣatriya-dharma), the moral weight of loss remains. The epic underscores that dharma does not erase grief; it frames it, and the longing for reunion becomes part of the ethical aftermath of war.
The speaker addresses Nārada and asks where certain well-known warriors and kings are—Virāṭa, Drupada, Dhṛṣṭaketu and others, Śikhaṇḍin, Draupadī’s sons, and Abhimanyu—because he does not see them present and wishes to meet them.