TEXT 47
aha raja dharma-sutas
cintayan suhrdam vadham
prakrtenatmana viprah
sneha-moha-vasam gatah
SYNONYMS
ahasaid; rajaKing Yudhisthira; dharma-sutahthe son of Dharma (Yamaraja); cintayanthinking of; suhrdamof the friends; vadhamkilling; prakrtenaby material conception only; atmanaby the self; viprahO brahmana; snehaaffection; mohadelusion; vasambeing carried away by; gatahhaving gone.
TRANSLATION
King Yudhisthira, son of Dharma, overwhelmed by the death of his friends, was aggrieved just like a common, materialistic man. O sages, thus deluded by affection, he began to speak.
PURPORT
King Yudhisthira, though he was not expected to become aggrieved like a common man, became deluded by worldly affection by the will of the Lord (just as Arjuna was apparently deluded). A man who sees knows well that the living entity is neither the body nor the mind, but is transcendental to the material conception of life. The common man thinks of violence and nonviolence in terms of the body, but that is a kind of delusion. Everyone is duty-bound according to one's occupational duties. A ksatriya is bound to fight for the right cause, regardless of the opposite party. In such discharge of duty, one should not be disturbed by annihilation of the material body, which is only an external dress of the living soul. All this was perfectly known to Maharaja Yudhisthira, but by the will of the Lord he became just like a common man because there was another great idea behind this delusion: the King would be instructed by Bhisma as Arjuna was instructed by the Lord Himself.

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