Shloka 22
Svargārohaṇa-parva Adhyāya 2 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Inquiry for His Kin and the Vision of a Punitive Realm
वहाँ यत्र-तत्र बहुत-से मुर्दे बिखरे पड़े थे, उनमेंसे किसीके शरीरसे रुधिर और मेद बहते थे, किसीके बाहु, ऊरु, पेट और हाथ-पैर कट गये थे ।। स तत्कुणपतदुर्गन्धमशिवं लोमहर्षणम् । जगाम राजा धर्मात्मा मध्ये बहु विचिन्तयन्,धर्मात्मा राजा युधिष्ठिर मन-ही-मन बहुत चिन्ता करते हुए उसी मार्गके बीचसे होकर निकले जहाँ सड़े मुदोंकी बदबू फैल रही थी और अमंगलकारी बीभत्स दृश्य दिखायी देता था। वह भयंकर मार्ग रोंगटे खड़े कर देनेवाला था
sa tat-kuṇapa-durgandham aśivaṁ lomaharṣaṇam | jagāma rājā dharmātmā madhye bahu vicintayan ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: The righteous king, Yudhiṣṭhira, moved onward through that very path—reeking with the stench of rotting corpses, ominous and hair-raising—while turning many thoughts over within himself. The scene was gruesome and inauspicious, yet he proceeded, burdened by inward ethical reflection amid the aftermath of violence.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a dharmic person must confront the consequences of violence without denial: the king proceeds through an inauspicious, horrifying scene while reflecting deeply, suggesting that ethical life includes sober reckoning with suffering and the moral weight of actions.
As narrated by Vaiśaṃpāyana, King Yudhiṣṭhira continues along a path filled with the stench and horror of decaying corpses; despite the terrifying, ill-omened surroundings, he moves forward while absorbed in anxious contemplation.