Shloka 27
Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting
आत्मा न शोचनीयस्ते श्लाध्यो मृत्युस्तवानघ । वयमेवाधुना शोच्या: सर्वावस्थासु कौरव
ātmā na śocanīyas te ślādhyo mṛtyus tavānagha | vayam evādhunā śocyāḥ sarvāvasthāsu kaurava ||
Sañjaya berkata: “Dirimu tidak patut diratapi, wahai yang tidak berdosa; bahkan kematianmu pun layak dipuji. Kamilah yang patut dikasihani kini—dalam setiap keadaan dan segala kondisi, wahai Kaurava.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reframes grief through a dharmic lens: a blameless warrior’s death can be honorable and not a cause for lament, while the living—burdened by defeat, moral injury, and ongoing suffering—may be more truly pitiable.
Sañjaya addresses a Kaurava, consoling him by saying that the fallen person is not to be mourned and has met a praiseworthy end, whereas those who remain alive are now the ones to be pitied in every circumstance amid the calamity of war.