हत्वा स्वरिक्थस्पृध आततायिनो युधिष्ठिरो धर्मभृतां वरिष्ठः ।
सहानुजैः प्रत्यवरुद्धभोजनः कथं प्रवृत्तः किमकारषीत्ततः ॥१॥
Å›aunaka uvÄca
hatvÄ svariktha-spá¹›dha ÄtatÄyino
yudhiá¹£á¹hiro dharma-bhá¹›tÄá¹ variá¹£á¹haḥ
sahÄnujaiḥ pratyavaruddha-bhojanaḥ
kathaá¹ pravá¹›ttaḥ kim akÄraṣīt tataḥ
3 times this text was mentioned in purports to other texts: LSB(2) , TLKS(1)
Å›aunakaḥ uvÄca - Åšaunaka inquired; hatvÄ - after killing; svariktha - the legal inheritance; spá¹›dhaḥ - desiring to usurp; ÄtatÄyinaḥ - the aggressor; yudhiá¹£á¹hiraḥ - King Yudhiá¹£á¹hira; dharma-bhá¹›tÄm - of those who strictly follow religious principles; variá¹£á¹haḥ - greatest; saha-anujaiḥ - with his younger brothers; pratyavaruddha - restricted; bhojanaḥ - acceptance of necessities; katham - how; pravá¹›ttaḥ - engaged; kim - what; akÄraṣīt - executed; tataḥ - thereafter.
Åšaunaka Muni asked: After killing his enemies who desired to usurp his rightful inheritance, how did the greatest of all religious men, MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira, assisted by his brothers, rule his subjects? Surely he could not freely enjoy his kingdom with unrestricted consciousness.
MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira was the greatest of all men of religion. Thus he was not at all inclined to fight with his cousins for the sake of enjoying the kingdom; he fought for the right cause because the kingdom of HastinÄpura was his rightful inheritance and his cousins wanted to usurp it for themselves. He fought, therefore, for the right cause under the guidance of Lord ÅšrÄ« Kṛṣṇa, but he could not enjoy the results of his victory because his cousins were all killed in the fight. He therefore ruled over the kingdom as a matter of duty, assisted by his younger brothers. The inquiry was important for Åšaunaka Ṛṣi, who wanted to know about the behavior of MahÄrÄja Yudhiá¹£á¹hira when he was at ease to enjoy the kingdom.
