Shloka 11
Śama-prāptiḥ — Gautamī–Lubdhaka–Pannaga–Mṛtyu–Kāla-saṃvāda
Restraint through the Analysis of Karma and Time
न स पश्यति दुष्टात्मा त्वामद्य पतितं क्षितौ । अतः: श्रेयो मृतं मन््ये नेह जीवितमात्मन:
na sa paśyati duṣṭātmā tvām adya patitaṃ kṣitau | ataḥ śreyo mṛtaṃ manye neha jīvitam ātmanaḥ ||
Hindi nakikita ngayon ng masamang-kaloob na iyon na ikaw ay nakahandusay na ganyan sa lupa. Kaya hinahatulan kong ang kamatayan dito ang higit na mabuti—hindi ang pagpapatuloy ng aking buhay—kapag naganap na ang ganitong tanawin at ang gumawa ng kasamaan ay nananatiling walang hiya sapagkat hindi niya ito nasaksihan.
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse voices a dharmic anguish: when a righteous person witnesses a humiliating fall of someone worthy while the wrongdoer remains unaffected, mere survival can feel ethically hollow. It highlights the tension between endurance (living on) and the demand for moral accountability, showing how honor and justice weigh heavily in a kṣatriya moral imagination.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses someone who has fallen on the ground and laments that the wicked person responsible (or implicated) is not present to witness this downfall. In that grief and indignation, he declares that death seems preferable to continuing life under such circumstances.