Shloka 30

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)

Devanagari script

इमौ हि वृद्धौ शोकाग्नौ प्रक्षिप्प स सुयोधन: । अस्मत्प्रद्वेषसंयुक्त: पापबुद्धि: सदैव ह,हमलोगोंके प्रति सदा द्वेष रखनेवाला पापबुद्धि दुर्योधन इन दोनों वृद्धोंको शोककी आगमें झोंककर चला गया

Transliteration

imau hi vṛddhau śokāgnau prakṣipya sa suyodhanaḥ | asmatpradveṣasaṃyuktaḥ pāpabuddhiḥ sadaiva ha ||

Translation

इमौ हि वृद्धौ शोकाग्नौ प्रक्षिप्य स सुयोधनः। अस्मत्प्रद्वेषसंयुक्तः पापबुद्धिः सदैव ह॥

Word by Word

इमौthese two

हिindeed/for

वृद्धौtwo elders

शोकाग्नौin the two fires of grief

प्रक्षिप्यhaving thrown/cast

सःhe

सुयोधनःSuyodhana (Duryodhana)

अस्मत्-प्रद्वेष-संयुक्तःendowed with hatred towards us

पापबुद्धिःevil-minded one

सदैवalways

हindeed (emphatic particle)

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

Suyodhana (Duryodhana)

two elders (vṛddhau)

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?

The verse frames hatred (pradveṣa) as a corrupting force that drives harmful action and deepens suffering. By calling Duryodhana ‘pāpabuddhi’ and depicting grief as a consuming ‘fire,’ it highlights how malice leads to ethical failure and the burning of relationships and elders’ well-being.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira laments that Duryodhana, motivated by enduring hostility toward the Pāṇḍavas, has effectively plunged two elderly figures into intense sorrow—metaphorically ‘throwing them into the fire of grief’—and then departed, leaving them to suffer.