Shloka 21
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
महाबाहो! तुम युद्धमें मारे गये उन क्षत्रियोंके भी ऐसे कर्मोंका चिन्तन करो जो उनके विनाशके कारण थे और जिनके होनेसे ही उन्हें कालके अधीन होना पड़ा ।।
mahābāho! tvaṃ yuddhe māritānāṃ teṣāṃ kṣatriyāṇām api tādṛśāṃ karmāṇāṃ cintanaṃ kuru, yāni teṣāṃ vināśa-kāraṇāni babhūvuḥ, yaiḥ sambhūtaiḥ te kālasya vaśam āpannāḥ. ātmanaś ca vijānīhi niyata-vrata-śāsanam; yadā tvam īdṛśaṃ karma vidhinā balāt kāritaḥ.
ヴィヤーサは言った。「大いなる腕を持つ者よ、戦で斃れたクシャトリヤ（kṣatriya）たちの行いについても省みよ——それらの行いが彼らの破滅の因となり、ひとたび為されたがゆえに、彼らを時の支配下へと置いたのだ。さらに汝自身のふるまいも吟味せよ。堅固な誓戒と定められた行法に鍛えられていたにもかかわらず、定めを司る者は宿命の力で汝を強く従わせ、このように苛烈な行為をなさしめた。」
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vyāsa urges ethical self-examination: the fall of warriors is linked to their own destructive actions, yet human agency operates under the overpowering framework of Kāla (Time) and Vidhi (destiny). The teaching balances responsibility for karma with humility before forces larger than individual will.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective setting after the war, Vyāsa addresses a heroic listener and directs him to contemplate both the slain kṣatriyas’ ruin-causing deeds and his own conduct—acknowledging that even a disciplined person may be driven by destiny to commit severe acts amid the compulsions of war.