Shloka 196
Gāndhārī’s Petition for a Vision of the Departed (गान्धार्याः प्रार्थना—दिव्यदर्शनप्रसङ्गः)
पाण्डवा: पज्च दु:खार्ता भूतानीव युगक्षये । यह सुनकर समस्त पाण्डव एक-दूसरेको हृदयसे लगाकर रोने लगे। जैसे प्रलयकालमें पाँचों भूत पीडित हो जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार उस समय पाँचों पाण्डव दुःखसे आतुर हो उठे
pāṇḍavāḥ pañca duḥkhārtā bhūtānīva yugakṣaye |
玉提施提罗说道：“五位般度族，被悲苦所煎迫，恰如一劫将尽时的五大元素。” 听罢此言，众般度族由衷相拥而泣，哀恸汹涌，仿佛连世界的根基也为之震颤。
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents grief as a natural and dharmically honest response even for the righteous. By comparing the brothers’ sorrow to the five elements at the end of an age, it teaches that loss can feel world-ending, yet one must pass through mourning without abandoning restraint, solidarity, and the larger commitment to dharma.
After hearing distressing news in the Āśramavāsika context, the Pāṇḍavas are overwhelmed. They embrace one another and weep, and Yudhiṣṭhira describes their condition with a cosmic simile: like the five elements shaken at the yuga’s end, the five brothers are shaken by grief.