Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 1.8.48

aho me paśyatājñānam

hridi rūdham durātmanah

pārakyasyaiva dehasya

bahvyo me 'kshauhinīr hatāh

SYNONYMS

aho — O; me — my; paśyata — just see; ajñānam — ignorance; hridi — in the heart; rūdham — situated in; durātmanah — of the sinful; pārakyasya — meant for others; eva — certainly; dehasya — of the body; bahvyah — many, many; me — by me; akshauhinīh — combination of military phalanxes; hatāh — killed.

TRANSLATION

King Yudhishthira said: O my lot! I am the most sinful man! Just see my heart, which is full of ignorance! This body, which is ultimately meant for others, has killed many, many phalanxes of men.

PURPORT

A solid phalanx of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 109,650 infantry and 65,600 cavalry is called an akshauhinī. And many akshauhinīs were killed on the Battlefield of Kurukshetra. Mahārāja Yudhishthira, as the most pious king of the world, takes for himself the responsibility for killing such a huge number of living beings because the battle was fought to reinstate him on the throne. This body is, after all, meant for others. While there is life in the body, it is meant for the service of others, and when it is dead it is meant to be eaten by dogs and jackals or maggots. He is sorry because for such a temporary body such a huge massacre was committed.

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His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda, Founder Ācārya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness