Shloka 4
Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament for Karṇa and Renunciation-Oriented Self-Assessment (शोक-प्रलापः / त्याग-प्रवृत्तिः)
युधिष्ठिरने कहा--अर्जुन! यदि हमलोग वृष्णिवंशी तथा अन्धकवंशी क्षत्रियोंकी नगरी द्वारकामें जाकर भीख माँगते हुए अपना जीवन-निर्वाह कर लेते तो आज अपने कुटुम्बको निर्वेश करके हम इस दुर्दशाको प्राप्त नहीं होते ।।
Yudhiṣṭhira uvāca— Arjuna! yadi vayaṁ Vṛṣṇivaṁśyāndhakavaṁśya-kṣatriyāṇāṁ nagarīṁ Dvārakāṁ gatvā bhikṣāṁ yācantaḥ jīvana-nirvāhaṁ kṛtavantaḥ syāma, adya sva-kutumbaṁ nirveśya naivaṁ durdaśāṁ prāpnuyāma. Amitrā naḥ samṛddhārthā vṛttārthāḥ Kuravaḥ kila; ātmānam ātmanā hatvā kiṁ dharma-phalam āpnuyāmaḥ?
尤提希提罗说道：“阿周那，倘若我们当初前往堕罗迦——弗利什尼与安陀迦之城——以乞食自活，今日便不至于在夺尽自家族人的性命之后，落到这般凄惨境地。敌人的心愿已遂，因为他们必将因我族覆灭而欢喜；而俱卢诸王（考罗婆）的图谋，也只随着他们的性命才告终结。既杀戮至亲，又因这同一行为而自毁，我们还能得到什么法（dharma）的果报呢？”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the moral anguish that follows violence against one’s own kin: even if victory is achieved, the inner cost can feel like self-destruction. It questions whether any ‘fruit of dharma’ can arise from actions that annihilate one’s family and leave the agent spiritually devastated.
In Śānti Parva, after the catastrophic war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Arjuna in grief and self-reproach. He imagines an alternative—living by alms in Dvārakā among allied clans—arguing that such humble survival would have been preferable to the present ruin, where enemies’ wishes seem fulfilled and the victors feel morally broken.