Shloka 21
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
पलायमान: कृपणो दीनात्मा दीनपौरुष:
palāyamānaḥ kṛpaṇo dīnātmā dīnapauruṣaḥ, kaccin na nihataḥ śūro yathānye kṣatriyarṣabhāḥ | sūta! kiṃ me putro duḥśāsano dīnacitto puruṣārthaśūnyaḥ kāyaravat palāyan hataḥ? tāta! sa yuddhasthale kiṃcid dīnatāpūrṇaṃ vyavahāraṃ na kṛtavān? yathānye kṣatriyaśiromaṇayaḥ hatāḥ, kiṃ tathā śūravīro duḥśāsano na nihataḥ? |
ドリタラーシュトラは言った。「惨めに逃げ惑い、魂は砕け、男の勇も衰えて—その英雄は、他の刹帝利の雄牛たちと同じく討たれたのではないのか。おおスータよ、告げよ。わが子ドゥフシャーサナは、心弱く決意を失い、卑怯者のように逃げる最中に殺されたのか。わが子よ、戦場で卑しむべき振る舞いなど見せなかったはずだ、そうであろう？ 他の名だたる刹帝利の勇士が倒れたように、勇猛なるドゥフシャーサナもまた同じく倒れたのではないか。」
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the kṣatriya ideal that death in battle is preferable to disgraceful flight, while also exposing how parental attachment and anxiety can distort judgment—Dhṛtarāṣṭra measures his son’s fate primarily through the lens of honor and reputation rather than moral accountability.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing reports of heavy losses, anxiously questions Sañjaya about Duḥśāsana. He fears his son may have been killed while fleeing in cowardice and asks whether Duḥśāsana maintained proper battlefield conduct, like other renowned kṣatriya champions who have fallen.