Shloka 23
यह प्राणधारणरूपी धर्म अनित्य है, एक-न-एक दिन इसका अन्त होना निश्चित है, फिर भी विधाताने न जाने क्यों प्रमादवश मेरे जीवनका भी शीघ्र ही अन्त नहीं नियत कर दिया। तभी तो आयु मुझे छोड़ नहीं रही है ।।
ha kṛṣṇa dvārakāvāsin kvāsi saṅkarṣaṇānuja | kasmān na trāyase duḥkhān māṃ cemaṃś ca narottamān ||
“Ang dharmang ito ng pagdadala ng hininga ay di-mananatili; darating at darating ang wakas nito. Ngunit hindi ko batid kung bakit, sa pagkakaligta, hindi itinakda ng Tadhana ang mabilis na katapusan ng aking buhay; kaya’t hindi ako iniiwan ng aking haba ng buhay. Ay, O Kṛṣṇa na nananahan sa Dvārakā—nasaan ka? O nakababatang kapatid ni Saṅkarṣaṇa (Balarāma), bakit hindi mo iligtas ako at ang mga Pāṇḍava—ang pinakamahuhusay sa mga tao—mula sa dalamhating ito?”
वैशमग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
In distress, the righteous may openly lament and still turn toward the divine for refuge; the verse highlights human vulnerability and the ethical expectation that Kṛṣṇa, as ally of dharma, protects the virtuous—even when his help seems delayed.
A speaker (introduced as Vaiśaṃpāyana) voices a cry to Kṛṣṇa in Dvārakā, calling him the younger brother of Balarāma and asking why he does not save the speaker and the Pāṇḍavas—described as ‘best of men’—from their present suffering.