Shloka 2
अर्जुनस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति क्षात्रधर्मोपदेशः | Arjuna’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira on Kṣatra-Dharma
क्षत्रधर्मेण धर्मज्ञ प्राप्य राज्यं सुदुर्लभम् । जित्वा चारीन् नरश्रेष्ठ तप्यते कि भृशं भवान्
kṣatradharmeṇa dharmajña prāpya rājyaṃ sudurlabham | jitvā cārīn naraśreṣṭha tapyate ki bhṛśaṃ bhavān ||
ധർമ്മജ്ഞനേ, നരശ്രേഷ്ഠനേ! ക്ഷത്രിയധർമ്മപ്രകാരം അത്യന്തം ദുർലഭമായ ഈ രാജ്യം പ്രാപിച്ച് ശത്രുക്കളെ ജയിച്ചിട്ടും നിങ്ങൾ എന്തുകൊണ്ട് ഇത്രയും കടുത്ത വേദനയിൽ കത്തുന്നു?
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when power is gained through socially sanctioned duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and military success, inner suffering can persist; the verse foregrounds the tension between external legitimacy and the conscience’s moral reckoning.
Vaiśampāyana addresses a foremost man—one regarded as a knower of dharma—questioning why he remains deeply distressed despite having obtained a hard-won kingdom and defeated his enemies, setting up reflection on grief and ethical aftermath.