Shloka 113
परिभूत: कथं सूत परै: शक्ष्यामि जीवितुम् अब मैं मन्दबुद्धि मानव सबके लिये शोचनीय होकर दीन-दुःखी मनुष्योंके समान जीवन बिताऊँगा। सूत! मैं ही पहले सब लोगोंके सम्मानका पात्र था; किंतु अब शत्रुओंसे अपमानित होकर कैसे जीवित रह सकूँगा?
paribhūtaḥ kathaṃ sūta paraiḥ śakṣyāmi jīvitum
Dhṛtarāṣṭra disse: “Ó Sūta, tendo eu sido humilhado por outros, como poderei continuar vivendo? Agora eu, de entendimento embotado, terei de passar meus dias como um homem digno de pena, desamparado e aflito, sofrendo como os miseráveis. Ó Sūta, outrora fui objeto do respeito de todos; mas agora, desonrado por meus inimigos, como suportarei a vida?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment to status and public honor intensifies suffering when fortune turns. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s anguish points to the ethical consequence of earlier failures in dharma—when a ruler neglects justice and restraint, the eventual collapse brings not only loss but also public disgrace, which becomes psychologically unbearable.
In the Karṇa Parva frame-dialogue, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to Sañjaya (addressed as Sūta). Overwhelmed by reports of the war’s course and its humiliations, he laments that he—once honored as king—must now live as a pitiable, defeated man, dishonored by enemies.