Shloka 17
एवमेवेदमित्युक्त्वा धर्मात्मा स नरेश्वर: । शोकसागरमध्यस्थो दध्यौ कारणमाकुल:,धर्मपुत्रो महाबाहुर्विललाप सुविस्तरम् । अर्जुन मरे पड़े थे; उनके धनुष-बाण इधर-उधर बिखरे थे। भीमसेन और नकुल-सहदेव भी प्राणरहित हो निश्रेष्ट हो गये थे। इन सबको देखकर युधिष्ठिर गरम-गरम लंबी साँसें खींचने लगे। उनके नेत्रोंसे शोकके आँसू उमड़कर उन्हें भिगो रहे थे। अपने समस्त भ्राताओंको इस प्रकार धराशायी हुए देख महाबाह धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिर गहरी चिन्तामें डूब गये और देरतक विलाप करते रहे-- “यह ऐसी ही होनहार है”, ऐसा कहकर धर्मात्मा राजा युधिष्ठिर शोकसागरमें मग्न तथा व्याकुल होकर भाइयोंकी मृत्युके कारणपर विचार करने लगे
evaṁ evेदam ity uktvā dharmātmā sa nareśvaraḥ | śokasāgaramadhyastho dadhyau kāraṇam ākulaḥ || dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||
Vaiśaṁpāyana said: Having said, “So it is—this is indeed how it must be,” that righteous king, overwhelmed and agitated, stood as though in the midst of an ocean of grief and pondered the cause. The mighty-armed Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira) then lamented at length—struck by sorrow and searching for the moral and hidden reason behind the calamity that had befallen his brothers.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames suffering not as random but as something that invites ethical introspection: a dharmic king, even in intense grief, turns to reflection on causes—suggesting responsibility, karma, and the search for right understanding amid calamity.
After uttering a resigned acknowledgment—“So it is”—Yudhiṣṭhira is portrayed as submerged in grief. He becomes mentally unsettled and begins to contemplate why this disaster has occurred, then laments at length.