Shloka 25
स्वर्गे दुर्योधनदर्शनम् | Duryodhana Seen in Heaven
Triviṣṭapa
क्व नु ते पार्थिवान् ब्रद्मुन्नैतान् पश्यामि नारद । विराटद्रुपदौ चैव धृष्टकेतुमुखांश्व॒ तान्
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | kva nu te pārthivān brūhi munne tān na paśyāmi nārada | virāṭa-drupadau caiva dhṛṣṭaketumukhāṃś ca tān | śikhaṇḍinaṃ draupadeyāṃś ca sarvān durdharṣaṃ cābhimanyum api paśyituṃ icchāmi ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana disse: “Ó sábio, dize-me: onde estão aqueles reis? Ó Nārada, não os vejo aqui. Onde estão Virāṭa e Drupada, e aqueles liderados por Dhṛṣṭaketu? Desejo também contemplar Śikhaṇḍin, todos os filhos de Draupadī e o herói inconquistável Abhimanyu.”
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when death occurs under the banner of righteous duty (kṣatriya-dharma), the moral weight of loss remains. The epic underscores that dharma does not erase grief; it frames it, and the longing for reunion becomes part of the ethical aftermath of war.
The speaker addresses Nārada and asks where certain well-known warriors and kings are—Virāṭa, Drupada, Dhṛṣṭaketu and others, Śikhaṇḍin, Draupadī’s sons, and Abhimanyu—because he does not see them present and wishes to meet them.