āha rājā dharma-sutaś cintayan suhṛdāṁ vadham prākṛtenātmanā viprāḥ sneha-moha-vaśaṁ gataḥ
Synonyms
āha—said; rājā—king Yudhisthir; dharma-sutaḥ—the son of Dharma (Yamraj) Chintayam—thinking of; cintayan—of the friends; su-hṛdām—killing; vadham—by material conception only; prākṛtena—by the self; ātmanā—oh the Brahmins; viprāḥ—affection; sneha—delusion; moha—being carried away by; vaśam—having gone.
Translation
The King Yudhisthir son of Dharma became agrieved just like a common man with materialistic sense and was thus overwhelmed by the death of friends. Oh the sages thus deluded by affection he began to say.
Purport
The King Yudhisthir as he was not expected to become agrieved like a common man but he became deluded by such worldly affection by the Will of the Lord as much as Arjuna was apparently deluded. A seengnai man knows it well that the living entity is neither the body nor the mind but he is transcendental to material conception of life. The common man thinks of violence and non-violence in terms of the body and that is a kind of delusion. Every one is duty bound according to one's occupational duties. A kshatriya is bound to fight for the right cause never mind whoever may be 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 these were perfectly known to Maharaj Yudhisthir but by the will of the Lord he became just like a common man because there was another great idea behind this delusion that the king should be instructed by Bhisma as much as Arjuna was instructed by the Lord Himself.