Shloka 303
अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
तथैव पुत्रपौत्राणां मम ये निहता युधि । “ब्रह्मन्! जो मित्रके लिये युद्धमें मारे गये उन राजाओंकी क्या गति हुई होगी? तथा जो रणभूमिमें वीरगतिको प्राप्त हुए हैं
tathaiva putrapautrāṇāṁ mama ye nihatā yudhi |
毗舍波耶那说道：“同样地，我那些在战斗中被杀的儿子与孙子，究竟得到了怎样的归宿？‘婆罗门啊！为朋友之故而战死沙场的诸王，其去处当为何？而我那些在战场上得享英雄之终的子孙，又将获得何等境界？’”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a dharmic and ethical inquiry: how to understand the spiritual consequence (gati) of death in war—especially for those who fought and died as kṣatriyas. It highlights the tension between duty-bound violence and the longing to know whether such deaths lead to merit, purification, or a higher realm.
In the Āśramavāsika context, the speaker (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) voices a grief-filled question about the posthumous destiny of close kin—sons and grandsons—who were killed in the great war, seeking clarity about their fate beyond death.