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 ||
Vidura berkata: “Mereka itu kṣatriya yang berjiwa besar—wira yang bersinar dalam pertembungan perang. Setelah memperoleh pemenuhan tertinggi yang mereka dambakan, mereka telah sampai ke alam-alam mulia yang diperuntukkan bagi para pahlawan demikian. Maka, tiada seorang pun daripada mereka yang benar-benar patut diratapi.”
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.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.