Shloka 34
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)
अवध्यानां वध कृत्वा लोके प्राप्ता: सम वाच्यताम् कुलस्यास्यान्तकरणं दुर्मतिं पापपूरुषम्
avadhyānāṁ vadhaṁ kṛtvā loke prāptāḥ sama-vācyatām | kulasyāsyāntakaraṇaṁ durmatiṁ pāpa-pūruṣam ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Giết những người không đáng bị giết, chúng ta đã bị thiên hạ nói rằng chẳng khác gì họ. Chúng ta đã hủy diệt dòng tộc này, và trở thành kẻ tâm trí tà vạy—những người mang tội.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when violence is justified by duty, the ethical weight of killing—especially of those deemed ‘not to be slain’—can generate profound moral anguish; dharma is not merely victory, but accountability for harm and the ruin of one’s own lineage.
In the aftermath of the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira laments that the Pāṇḍavas have killed persons who should not have been killed and, by destroying their own kin-group, have earned a reputation comparable to the very wrongdoers they opposed.