Shloka 68
श्रेयो-धर्मकर्मविचारः
Inquiry into Śreyas, Dharma, and Karma
वयं तु भृशमापन्ना रक्ता दुःखसुखे5सुखे । कां गतिं प्रतिपत्स्यामो नीलां कृष्णाधमामथ
vayaṁ tu bhṛśam āpannā raktā duḥkha-sukhe 'sukhe | kāṁ gatiṁ pratipatsyāmo nīlāṁ kṛṣṇādhamām atha ||
玉提施提罗说道：“而我们却陷于深重困厄，或执著于苦乐杂糅之境，或执著于纯然之苦。在此情形下，我们将得何等归趣？是要堕入‘青色’的人身之生，还是沉落到更低的境地——幽暗而卑贱，甚至低于不动之类的生命形态？”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Attachment to suffering (or to a confused mix of pleasure and pain) is itself a moral and spiritual danger: it clouds discernment and raises anxiety about one’s karmic ‘gati’ (destiny). The verse voices the ethical insight that inner fixation and despair can be as consequential as outward acts, and that one should seek clarity, restraint, and dharmic orientation rather than being driven by grief.
In Śānti Parva’s reflective setting after the devastation of the war, Yudhiṣṭhira expresses deep distress and self-doubt. He fears that the Pandavas’ present mental state—overwhelmed and attached to painful emotions—may lead to a degraded destiny, and he asks what kind of rebirth or post-mortem course could await them.