Shloka 17
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)
यदासां निहता: पुत्रा युवानो मृष्टकुण्डला: । अभुकक््त्वा पार्थिवान् भोगानृणान्यनपहाय च
yadāsāṁ nihatāḥ putrā yuvāno mṛṣṭa-kuṇḍalāḥ | abhuñjaktvā pārthivān bhogān ṛṇāny anapahāya ca ||
尤提士提罗说道：“当那些母亲的儿子——佩戴明亮而精工耳环的青年——被杀之后，他们未曾尝到尘世生活的欢享，也未曾偿还对诸天与祖灵的债，便已前往阎摩之界。于是，那些母亲的辛劳与希冀，因我们的作为而尽成虚空。”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames war-death as an ethical catastrophe beyond physical loss: the slain youths are denied both worldly fulfillment and the chance to complete dharmic obligations (debts to gods and ancestors). Yudhiṣṭhira’s lament highlights responsibility for disrupting others’ life-stages and duties, intensifying the moral weight of violence.
In Śānti Parva, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the aftermath of the Kurukṣetra war. Here he mourns that the young sons of many mothers—adorned and in the prime of life—were killed by his side, and therefore went to Yama’s realm without enjoying life or fulfilling traditional obligations, making the mothers’ aspirations futile.