Shloka 26

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Remorse and Vyāsa’s Teaching on Impermanence (Śoka-nivāraṇa)

Devanagari script

इस प्रकार श्रीमह्याभारत शान्तिपर्वके अन्तर्गत राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वमें युधिष्ठिरका वाक्यविषयक छब्बीसवाँ अध्याय पूरा हुआ,यथेष्टं गम्यतां काममनुजाने प्रसाद्य व:

Transliteration

iti prakāraḥ śrīmahābhārate śāntiparvaṇi antargate rājadharmānuśāsanaparvaṇi yudhiṣṭhirasya vākyaviṣayakaḥ ṣaḍviṃśatitamo 'dhyāyaḥ pūrṇaḥ | yatheṣṭaṃ gamyatāṃ kāmam anujāne prasādya vaḥ |

Translation

इति श्रीमहाभारते शान्तिपर्वणि राजधर्मानुशासनपर्वणि युधिष्ठिरवाक्यविषये षड्विंशोऽध्यायः समाप्तः। यथेष्टं गम्यतां काममनुजाने प्रसाद्य वः॥

Word by Word

यथाas/according to

इष्टम्desired (thing)

गम्यताम्let it be gone / may one go

कामम्at will; as you please

अनुजानेI permit / I allow

प्रसाद्यhaving pleased / having propitiated

वःto you (pl.) / of you (pl.)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Mahābhārata

Śānti Parvan

Rājadharmānuśāsana Parvan

Yudhiṣṭhira

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

This verse functions as a colophon marking the completion of a chapter on rājadharma (the duties and ethical responsibilities of a king). Its ethical emphasis is that instruction in governance is treated as a formal discipline, concluded with orderly closure and permission to depart—signaling respect, satisfaction, and proper conduct after counsel.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, the narrator, announces that the twenty-sixth chapter—centered on Yudhiṣṭhira’s speech—has ended within the Śānti Parvan’s rājadharma instruction section. The closing line grants leave to the listeners to go as they wish, indicating the completion of the teaching session.