Shloka 136

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

अल्पकालस्य राज्यस्य कृते मूढेन घातित: । जिन्होंने हमें बचपनसे पाल-पोसकर बड़ा किया और सब प्रकारसे हमारी रक्षा की, उन्हींको मुझ पापी, राज्य-लोभी, गुरुघाती एवं मूर्खने थोड़े समयतक रहनेवाले राज्यके लिये मरवा डाला

Transliteration

alpākālasya rājyasya kṛte mūḍhena ghātitaḥ |

Translation

युधिष्ठिर म्हणाला—थोड्याच काळ टिकणाऱ्या राज्यासाठी मी मूढ होऊन त्यांचाच वध घडवून आणला, ज्यांनी बालपणापासून मला वाढवले आणि सर्व प्रकारे माझे रक्षण केले.

Word by Word

• अल्पकालस्य: of a short time
• अल्पकालस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अल्पकाल
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Singular

• राज्यस्य: of the kingdom
• राज्यस्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: राज्य
• Form: Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• कृते: for the sake of
• कृते: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कृत
• Form: postposition (artha: for the sake of)

• मूढेन: by the deluded (one)
• मूढेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: मूढ
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• घातितः: was caused to be killed / was slain (by instigation)
• घातितः: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: घातित
• Form: past passive participle (causative), हन् (to kill) / causative घातयति, Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• rājya (sovereignty/kingdom)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Worldly power is transient, but moral debts—gratitude to protectors, reverence to elders/teachers, and responsibility for violence—are enduring. Pursuing a short-lived kingdom at the cost of dharma leads to lasting remorse and self-condemnation.

What is happening in the narrative?

In Śānti Parva, after the devastation of the Kurukṣetra war, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the catastrophe and blames himself. He says that for a brief, impermanent sovereignty he became the cause of the slaughter of those who had nurtured and protected him, expressing intense guilt and ethical anguish.