Shloka 47

Adhyāya 33 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Post-Conflict Remorse and Inquiry on Āśrama Discipline (शोक-विमर्शः, आश्रम-जिज्ञासा)

Devanagari script

अशोच्यास्ते महात्मान: क्षत्रिया: क्षत्रियर्षभ । स्वकर्मभिर्गता नाशं कृतान्तबलमोहिता:,क्षत्रियशिरोमणे! वे महामनस्वी क्षत्रिय, जो युद्धमें मारे गये हैं, शोक करनेके योग्य नहीं हैं; क्योंकि वे कालकी शक्तिसे मोहित होकर अपने ही कर्मोंसे नष्ट हुए हैं

Transliteration

aśocyās te mahātmānaḥ kṣatriyāḥ kṣatriyarṣabha | svakarmabhir gatā nāśaṃ kṛtāntabalamohitāḥ ||

Translation

Wika ni Vyāsa: “O toro sa mga kṣatriya, ang mga mandirigmang may dakilang diwa ay hindi nararapat pagluksaaan. Nalito sa napakalakas na kapangyarihan ng Kamatayan (Panahon), sinalubong nila ang pagkapuksa dahil sa bigat at agos ng sarili nilang mga gawa.”

Word by Word

अशोच्याःnot to be mourned

तेthey/those

महात्मानःgreat-souled ones

क्षत्रियाःkshatriyas/warriors

क्षत्रियर्षभO bull among kshatriyas

स्वकर्मभिःby their own deeds

गताःhaving gone/come

नाशम्destruction

कृतान्तबलमोहिताःdeluded by the power of Death (Time)

Speaker

व्यास उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vyāsa

kṣatriyas

Kṛtānta (Death/Time)

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?

Grief is restrained by insight into karma and the inevitability of Death/Time: warriors who fall in battle meet an end shaped by their own deeds and the ordained course of time, so excessive lamentation is ethically discouraged.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vyāsa addresses a kṣatriya interlocutor, reframing the deaths of slain warriors: rather than objects of personal sorrow, they are presented as agents who reached their fate through their own karmic trajectory under the compelling power of Kṛtānta (Death/Time).