Shloka 8
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)
यः स बाणभनुष्पाणियोंधयामास भार्गवम् | बहुन्यहानि कौरव्य: कुरुक्षेत्रे महामृधे
yaḥ sa bāṇa-dhanuṣ-pāṇir yodhayām āsa bhārgavam | bahūny ahāni kauravyaḥ kuru-kṣetre mahā-mṛdhe ||
Disse Yudhiṣṭhira: “Ó Kauravya! Aquele que, com arco e flechas em punho, lutou contra o Bhārgava (Paraśurāma) por muitos dias no campo de Kurukṣetra, naquele grande e terrível combate—esse mesmo herói eu fiz cair morto na guerra.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral weight of warfare: even the slaying of a renowned, dharma-anchored hero becomes a source of ethical anguish. It frames victory not as triumph alone but as an act that demands reflection on responsibility, duty, and the cost of violence.
Yudhiṣṭhira recalls the extraordinary martial stature of the warrior who once fought Paraśurāma for many days at Kurukṣetra, and he laments that this very hero was brought to death in the war—highlighting Yudhiṣṭhira’s grief and self-reproach in the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra conflict.