Shloka 3
स दीर्घमुष्णं नि:श्वस्य शोकबाष्पपरिप्लुत: । तान् दृष्टवा पतितान् भ्रातृन् सर्वाश्विन्तासमन्वितः,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--
sa dīrgham uṣṇaṁ niḥśvasya śokabāṣpapariplutaḥ | tān dṛṣṭvā patitān bhrātṝn sarvāśvintāsamanvitaḥ dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||
Having drawn a long, hot breath, drenched in tears born of grief, Dharmaputra Yudhiṣṭhira—mighty-armed—looked upon his brothers lying fallen and, overwhelmed by every kind of anxious thought, lamented at length. The scene underscores the ethical weight of kinship and responsibility: the righteous king’s sorrow is not merely personal loss, but the crushing awareness of duty imperiled when one’s own are struck down.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how even the most dharma-oriented person is shaken when duty and kinship collide with catastrophe. Yudhiṣṭhira’s tears and ‘hot sigh’ portray the moral and emotional burden of leadership: righteousness is tested not in calm, but amid loss, fear, and responsibility for one’s own.
Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that Yudhiṣṭhira sees his brothers lying fallen. Overcome with grief and anxious thoughts, he exhales long, burning sighs, is drenched in tears, and laments for a long time.