Shloka 34

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

Devanagari script

अवध्यानां वध कृत्वा लोके प्राप्ता: सम वाच्यताम्‌ कुलस्यास्यान्तकरणं दुर्मतिं पापपूरुषम्‌

Transliteration

avadhyānāṁ vadhaṁ kṛtvā loke prāptāḥ sama-vācyatām | kulasyāsyāntakaraṇaṁ durmatiṁ pāpa-pūruṣam ||

Translation

अवध्यानां वधं कृत्वा लोके प्राप्ताः समवाच्यताम्। कुलस्यास्यान्तकरणं दुर्मतिं पापपूरुषम्॥

Word by Word

अवध्यानाम्of those who should not be slain / of the unslayable

वधम्slaying, killing

कृत्वाhaving done / having committed

लोकेin the world

प्राप्ताःhaving attained / having reached

समवाच्यताम्equal repute / being spoken of as equal (status)

कुलस्यof the family

अस्यof this

अन्तकरणम्inner organ / mind (as inner instrument)

दुर्मतिम्evil-minded, of bad counsel

पापपूरुषम्sinful man / wicked person

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

kula (lineage/family)

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?

Even when violence is justified by duty, the ethical weight of killing—especially of those deemed ‘not to be slain’—can generate profound moral anguish; dharma is not merely victory, but accountability for harm and the ruin of one’s own lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the aftermath of the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira laments that the Pāṇḍavas have killed persons who should not have been killed and, by destroying their own kin-group, have earned a reputation comparable to the very wrongdoers they opposed.