Mahabharata — Ashramavasika Parva, Shloka 303
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
तथैव पुत्रपौत्राणां मम ये निहता युधि । “ब्रह्मन्! जो मित्रके लिये युद्धमें मारे गये उन राजाओंकी क्या गति हुई होगी? तथा जो रणभूमिमें वीरगतिको प्राप्त हुए हैं
tathaiva putrapautrāṇāṁ mama ye nihatā yudhi |
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “At gayundin, anong hantungan ang natamo ng aking mga anak at mga apo na napatay sa digmaan? ‘O Brahmana! Ano kaya ang kapalaran ng mga haring namatay sa labanan alang-alang sa kaibigan? At ang aking mga anak at apo na tumanggap ng kamatayang-bayani sa larangan—anong hantungan ang kanilang narating?’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic and ethical inquiry: how to understand the spiritual consequence (gati) of death in war—especially for those who fought and died as kṣatriyas. It highlights the tension between duty-bound violence and the longing to know whether such deaths lead to merit, purification, or a higher realm.
In the Āśramavāsika context, the speaker (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) voices a grief-filled question about the posthumous destiny of close kin—sons and grandsons—who were killed in the great war, seeking clarity about their fate beyond death.
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