Shloka 2
अर्जुनस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति क्षात्रधर्मोपदेशः | Arjuna’s Counsel to Yudhiṣṭhira on Kṣatra-Dharma
क्षत्रधर्मेण धर्मज्ञ प्राप्य राज्यं सुदुर्लभम् । जित्वा चारीन् नरश्रेष्ठ तप्यते कि भृशं भवान्
kṣatradharmeṇa dharmajña prāpya rājyaṃ sudurlabham | jitvā cārīn naraśreṣṭha tapyate ki bhṛśaṃ bhavān ||
اے دھرم کے جاننے والے، اے مردوں میں برتر! کشتریہ دھرم کے مطابق یہ نہایت دشوار حاصل ہونے والی سلطنت پا کر اور دشمنوں کو زیر کر کے بھی آپ اتنے شدید کیوں کڑھ رہے ہیں؟
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when power is gained through socially sanctioned duty (kṣatriya-dharma) and military success, inner suffering can persist; the verse foregrounds the tension between external legitimacy and the conscience’s moral reckoning.
Vaiśampāyana addresses a foremost man—one regarded as a knower of dharma—questioning why he remains deeply distressed despite having obtained a hard-won kingdom and defeated his enemies, setting up reflection on grief and ethical aftermath.