Shloka 7
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
प्राडमुखं सीदमानं च रथे पररथारुजम् । घूर्णमानं यथा शैलं तदा मे कश्मलो5भवत्
prāḍmukhaṃ sīdamānaṃ ca rathe pararathārujam | ghūrṇamānaṃ yathā śailaṃ tadā me kaśmalo 'bhavat ||
Disse Yudhiṣṭhira: “Quando o vi em seu carro—com o rosto voltado para o leste, afundando na impotência, suportando o assalto das flechas—balançando como uma montanha que treme, então fui tomado por um súbito colapso moral e emocional. Ao ver reduzido a tal estado aquele que podia afligir os guerreiros de carro do inimigo, minha mente foi submersa por tontura e confusão.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how witnessing the fall or suffering of a powerful warrior can trigger kaśmala—an inner collapse marked by grief and ethical disorientation. It frames Yudhiṣṭhira’s later dharma-inquiry: true righteousness must be sought when the mind is shaken by the consequences of violence, even when war was fought under duty.
Yudhiṣṭhira recalls seeing a formidable fighter on a chariot, turned eastward, silently enduring a barrage of arrows and swaying as if a mountain were trembling. That sight overwhelms him, and he experiences faintness and confusion (kaśmala), setting the emotional ground for his reflections in Śānti Parva.