Mahabharata 11.2.19 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 2, Shloka 19
Strī Parva, Adhyāya 2 — Vidura’s Consolation on Kāla, Karma, and the Limits of Lamentation (विदुरोपदेशः)
क्षत्रियास्ते महात्मान: शूरा: समितिशो भना: । आशिष: परमा: प्राप्ता न शोच्या: सर्व एव हि
kṣatriyās te mahātmānaḥ śūrāḥ samitiśobhanāḥ | āśiṣaḥ paramāḥ prāptā na śocyāḥ sarva eva hi ||
ಅವರು ಮಹಾತ್ಮ ಕ್ಷತ್ರಿಯರು, ಶೂರರು—ಸಮರಸಂಘರ್ಷದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಂಗೊಳಿಸಿದವರು. ತಮ್ಮ ಆಶಯಕ್ಕೆ ತಕ್ಕ ಪರಮ ಫಲವನ್ನು ಪಡೆದು ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠ ಲೋಕಗಳನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದ್ದಾರೆ; ಆದ್ದರಿಂದ ಅವರು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ಶೋಕಿಸತಕ್ಕವರಲ್ಲ।
विदुर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Vidura reframes grief through kṣatriya-dharma: warriors who die fulfilling their duty in righteous battle are said to attain exalted worlds; therefore excessive lamentation is ethically misplaced and should be tempered by understanding of duty and destiny.
In Strī Parva, amid the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra slaughter and the lamentations of the women, Vidura speaks words of counsel and consolation, pointing out that the fallen were heroic kṣatriyas who met a valorous end and thus are not to be mourned as if they had met an ignoble fate.
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