Shloka 16
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 31 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Instructions to Sañjaya
Peace Appeal and Five-Village Proposal
हन्तात्मन: कर्म निबोध राजन् धर्मार्थयुक्तादार्यवृत्तादपेतम् । उपक्रोशं चेह गतो5सि राजन् भूयश्व पापं प्रसजेदमुत्र
sañjaya uvāca | hantātmanaḥ karma nibodha rājan dharmārthayuktād āryavṛttād apetam | upakrośaṃ ceha gato 'si rājan bhūyaś ca pāpaṃ prasajed amutra mahārāja ||
قال سانجيا: «أيها الملك، تأمّل أفعالك أنت. لقد انحرف سلوكك بعيدًا عن نهج السادة القائم على الدharma وعلى المصلحة الرشيدة. ولهذا نلتَ اللوم في هذا العالم؛ وفيما بعد، أيها الملك العظيم، سيعود الإثم فيقبض عليك من جديد—فيجلب عليك عذاب مصيرٍ جحيمي.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must align personal conduct with dharma and artha as upheld by noble standards; otherwise, one suffers both worldly disgrace (public censure) and otherworldly moral consequences (pāpa leading to painful posthumous results).
Sañjaya delivers a sharp moral warning to the king he is addressing, urging self-examination and condemning behavior that has deviated from ārya-vṛtta; he frames the stakes as immediate social blame and future karmic retribution.