Shloka 68
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
वयं तु भृशमापन्ना रक्ता दुःखसुखे5सुखे । कां गतिं प्रतिपत्स्यामो नीलां कृष्णाधमामथ
vayaṁ tu bhṛśam āpannā raktā duḥkha-sukhe 'sukhe | kāṁ gatiṁ pratipatsyāmo nīlāṁ kṛṣṇādhamām atha ||
युधिष्ठिर उवाच—वयं तु भृशमापन्ना रक्ताः दुःखसुखेऽथवा केवलदुःखे। अस्यां दशायां कां गतिं प्रतिपत्स्यामः? नीलां मनुष्ययोनिं वा, अथवा कृष्णां स्थावरादप्यधमां गतिं नु प्राप्स्यामः?
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment to suffering (or to a confused mix of pleasure and pain) is itself a moral and spiritual danger: it clouds discernment and raises anxiety about one’s karmic ‘gati’ (destiny). The verse voices the ethical insight that inner fixation and despair can be as consequential as outward acts, and that one should seek clarity, restraint, and dharmic orientation rather than being driven by grief.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective setting after the devastation of the war, Yudhiṣṭhira expresses deep distress and self-doubt. He fears that the Pandavas’ present mental state—overwhelmed and attached to painful emotions—may lead to a degraded destiny, and he asks what kind of rebirth or post-mortem course could await them.