Shloka 47
धृतराष्ट्रस्य पाण्डवेषु प्रीति-वृत्तान्तः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Affectionate Disposition toward the Pāṇḍavas
औरसो भवतः: पुत्रो युयुत्सुर्न॒पसत्तम । अस्तु राजा महाराज यमन्यं मन्यते भवान्
auraso bhavataḥ putro yuyutsur nṛpasattama | astu rājā mahārāja yaman yaṃ manyate bhavān || nṛpaśreṣṭhī mahārāja! yuyutsu āpake aurasa putra haiṃ; ye hī rājā hoṃ athavā aur kisī ko jise āpa ucita samajhte hoṃ, rājā banā deṃ yā svayaṃ hī is rājyakā śāsana kareṃ | ahaṃ hī vanako calā jāūṃga | pitājī! ahaṃ pahlese hī apayaśakī āgameṃ jal cukā hūṃ, ab punaḥ āpa bhī mujhe na jalāiye |
Wika ni Yudhiṣṭhira: “O pinakamahusay sa mga hari, si Yuyutsu ay tunay mong anak. Siya na ang maging hari, O dakilang hari—o italaga mo ang sinumang inaakala mong nararapat, o ikaw na mismo ang mamahala sa kaharian. Ngunit ako’y tutungo sa gubat. Ama, ako’y napaso na sa apoy ng kahihiyan; huwag mo na akong sunugin pang muli.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical kingship and humility: Yudhiṣṭhira, burdened by the moral weight of the war and its aftermath, offers the throne to an alternative heir (Yuyutsu) or to whomever the elder deems fit, choosing personal renunciation over power. It frames rulership as a duty to be assigned by rightful authority, not seized for self-interest.
In the Āśramavāsika context, after the devastation of the war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to the elder king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra), proposing that Yuyutsu—Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s own son—should rule, or that Dhṛtarāṣṭra may appoint another or rule himself. Yudhiṣṭhira declares his intention to depart for the forest, expressing that he is already consumed by shame and does not wish further reproach.