Shloka 21
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
एतच्च मरणं तात यन्मत्त: पतितादिव । ज्ञातयो विनिवर्तन्ते प्रेतसत््वादिवासव:
etac ca maraṇaṃ tāta yan mattaḥ patitād iva | jñātayo vinivartante pretasattvād ivāsavaḥ ||
Дитя моё, вот что для меня смерть: когда мои собственные родичи отворачиваются от меня, как люди сторонятся павшего, и как жизненное дыхание покидает бездыханное тело. Их отступление и отказ стоять со мной ощущаются как утрата самой жизни.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames social and familial abandonment as a form of living death: for a dharmic person, the loss of kinship support and recognition can feel as devastating as physical death, highlighting the ethical weight of loyalty, solidarity, and responsibility within the family.
Yudhiṣṭhira speaks in distress during the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and tensions, expressing that his relatives’ turning away from him—treating him like someone fallen or untouchable—feels like death itself, signaling the deep rupture within the Kuru family.