Shloka 7
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
प्राडमुखं सीदमानं च रथे पररथारुजम् । घूर्णमानं यथा शैलं तदा मे कश्मलो5भवत्
prāḍmukhaṃ sīdamānaṃ ca rathe pararathārujam | ghūrṇamānaṃ yathā śailaṃ tadā me kaśmalo 'bhavat ||
ユディシュティラは言った。「戦車の上の彼を見たとき——顔を東に向け、無力のうちに沈み、矢の猛襲に耐えつつ——震える山のように揺らいでいた。その瞬間、私を道義と情の崩れが一挙に襲った。敵の車戦の勇士たちを苦しめ得たその人が、かくも落ちた姿を見て、我が心は眩暈と混乱に呑まれ、気を失いかけた。」
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how witnessing the fall or suffering of a powerful warrior can trigger kaśmala—an inner collapse marked by grief and ethical disorientation. It frames Yudhiṣṭhira’s later dharma-inquiry: true righteousness must be sought when the mind is shaken by the consequences of violence, even when war was fought under duty.
Yudhiṣṭhira recalls seeing a formidable fighter on a chariot, turned eastward, silently enduring a barrage of arrows and swaying as if a mountain were trembling. That sight overwhelms him, and he experiences faintness and confusion (kaśmala), setting the emotional ground for his reflections in Śānti Parva.