Araṇi Lost to the Deer: Pāṇḍavas Pursue to Preserve Agnihotra (अरणी-हरण प्रसङ्गः)
2.8 #:23:.7 () हि २ 7 (पतिव्रतामाहात्म्यपर्व) त्रिनवत्यधिकद्धिशततमो< ध्याय: राजा अभश्वपतिको देवी सावितन्रीके वरदानसे सावित्री नामक कन्याकी प्राप्ति तथा सावित्रीका पतिवरणके लिये विभिन्न देशोंमें भ्रमण युधिछिर उवाच नात्मानमनुशोचामि नेमान् भ्रातृन् महामुने । हरणं चापि राज्यस्य यथेमां द्रुपदात्मजाम्,युधिष्ठिर बोले--महामुने! इस ट्रपदकुमारीके लिये मुझे जैसा शोक होता है, वैसा न तो अपने लिये, न इन भाइयोंके लिये न राज्य छिन जानेके लिये ही होता है
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca: nātmānam anuśocāmi nemān bhrātṝn mahāmune | haraṇaṃ cāpi rājyasya yathemāṃ drupadātmajām ||
Yudhiṣṭhira nói: “Bạch đại hiền, ta không than khóc cho chính mình, cũng không than khóc cho các huynh đệ này, thậm chí không than khóc vì mất vương quốc—mà ta đau xót nhất là vì nàng, ái nữ của Drupada.”
युधिछिर उवाच
The verse highlights a dharmic hierarchy of concern: Yudhiṣṭhira’s deepest sorrow is not personal loss or political defeat, but the moral injury and dishonor suffered by a woman under his protection—implying that safeguarding dignity and righteousness outweighs attachment to power or even self-interest.
Yudhiṣṭhira addresses a sage and confesses that his greatest grief is for Draupadī (Drupada’s daughter). He says he does not mourn himself, his brothers, or the loss of the kingdom as much as he mourns what has happened to her—framing the emotional and ethical weight of her suffering as central.