Shloka 21

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization

Devanagari script

एतच्च मरणं तात यन्मत्त: पतितादिव । ज्ञातयो विनिवर्तन्ते प्रेतसत््वादिवासव:,तात! जैसे पतित मनुष्यके निकटसे लोग दूर भागते हैं और जैसे मृत शरीरसे प्राण निकल जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार मेरे कुटुम्बीजन भी जो मुझसे मुँह मोड़ रहे हैं, यही मेरे लिये मरण है

Transliteration

etac ca maraṇaṃ tāta yan mattaḥ patitād iva | jñātayo vinivartante pretasattvād ivāsavaḥ ||

Translation

Hỡi con yêu, đối với ta, đó chính là cái chết: khi chính những người thân tộc của ta quay lưng lại, như người đời tránh xa kẻ ngã gục, và như hơi thở sinh mệnh rời khỏi thân xác vô tri. Sự rút lui và khước từ đứng về phía ta của họ khiến ta cảm thấy như mất đi chính mạng sống.

Word by Word

एतत्this

चand

मरणम्death

तातdear (son/father), O dear one

यत्which/that

मतःfrom me

पतितात्from a fallen/outcast (person)

इवlike/as

ज्ञातयःkinsmen/relatives

विनिवर्तन्तेturn back/turn away/withdraw

प्रेतसत्त्वात्from a dead body (lit. dead-being)

इवlike/as

आसवाःvital breaths/life-forces

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

Yudhiṣṭhira

jñātayaḥ (kinsmen/relatives)

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?

The verse frames social and familial abandonment as a form of living death: for a dharmic person, the loss of kinship support and recognition can feel as devastating as physical death, highlighting the ethical weight of loyalty, solidarity, and responsibility within the family.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yudhiṣṭhira speaks in distress during the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and tensions, expressing that his relatives’ turning away from him—treating him like someone fallen or untouchable—feels like death itself, signaling the deep rupture within the Kuru family.