Shloka 3
Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)
बहवश्न मनुष्येन्द्रा नानादेशसमागता: । घातिता राज्यलुब्धेन मयैकेन पितामह,युधिष्ठिर बोले--पितामह! अकेले मैंने ही राज्यके लोभमें आकर पुत्र, पौत्र, भाई, चाचा, ताऊ, श्वशुर, गुरु, मामा, बाबा, भानजे, सगे-सम्बन्धी, सुहृद, मित्र तथा भाई-बन्धु आदि नाना देशोंसे आये हुए बहुसंख्यक क्षत्रियनरेशोंको मरवा डाला
bahavaś ca manuṣyendrā nānādeśasamāgatāḥ | ghātitā rājyālubdhena mayaikena pitāmaha ||
युधिष्ठिर म्हणाला—पितामह! नाना देशांतून जमलेले मनुष्यांतील श्रेष्ठ असे अनेक नरेश, राज्यलोभाने ग्रस्त माझ्या एकट्याच्यामुळे मारले गेले.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds moral accountability: even when war has many agents, Yudhiṣṭhira internalizes responsibility and identifies desire for power (rājya-lobha) as an ethical root of violence, preparing the ground for Bhīṣma’s instruction on dharma and governance.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to the dying Bhīṣma. Overwhelmed by the devastation of the Kurukṣetra war, he laments that countless kings from many regions have perished and frames himself as the cause, attributing it to his own greed for the kingdom.