Shloka 60
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 50 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Bhīmasena (भीमसेनभयवर्णनम्)
अवशोऊहं तदा तात पुत्राणां निहते शते । श्रोष्यामि निनदं स्त्रीणां कथं मां मरणं स्पृशेत्,तात! मेरे सौ पुत्र यदि युद्धमें मारे गये, तब विवश होकर मैं इनकी अनाथ स्त्रियोंका करुण क्रन्दन सुनूँगा। हाय! मेरी मृत्यु किस प्रकार हो सकती है?
avaśo ’haṃ tadā tāta putrāṇāṃ nihate śate | śroṣyāmi ninadaṃ strīṇāṃ kathaṃ māṃ maraṇaṃ spṛśet ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra berkata: “Wahai anakku, jika seratus puteraku gugur dalam peperangan, maka dalam keadaan tidak berdaya aku akan terpaksa mendengar ratapan para wanita mereka yang menjadi balu. Dalam keadaan demikian, bagaimana mungkin maut pun menyentuhku?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment to one’s lineage and the fruits of one’s choices can trap a person in anticipatory grief: Dhṛtarāṣṭra foresees the moral and emotional consequences of war—widowhood and lamentation—yet his helplessness also implies failure to restrain adharma in his own house.
In Udyoga Parva, as war becomes imminent, Dhṛtarāṣṭra voices dread about the possible destruction of his sons. He imagines himself surviving to hear the cries of their bereft wives and wonders how death could even come to him amid such suffering.