Shloka 29
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 31 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Instructions to Sañjaya
Peace Appeal and Five-Village Proposal
त्वमेवैको जातु पुत्रस्य राजन् वशं गत्वा सर्वलोके नरेन्द्र । कामात्मन: श्लाघनो द्यूतकाले नागा: शमं पश्य विपाकमस्य
tvam evaiko jātu putrasya rājan vaśaṁ gatvā sarvaloke narendra | kāmātmanaḥ ślāghano dyūtakāle nāgāḥ śamaṁ paśya vipākam asya, rājan ||
قال سنجيا: «يا أيها الملك، يا سيد الرجال، في العالم كله لم يكن أحدٌ غيرك قد خضع حقًّا لسلطان ابنك وأثنى عليه—ولا سيما زمن لعبة النرد—مع أنه كان أسير الهوى. ولأنك لم تُرِد أن تهدأ وتكفّ، فانظر الآن بعينيك إلى الثمرة المروّعة التي نضجت عن ذلك السلوك، يا أيها الملك.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must not surrender judgment to attachment—especially parental attachment—and must restrain desire-driven wrongdoing early. Praising and enabling adharma, even indirectly, matures into severe consequences (vipāka) that one must eventually face.
Sañjaya rebukes Dhṛtarāṣṭra: he alone indulged and praised his son’s conduct, particularly during the dice-game episode, and failed to choose restraint and peace. Now, as war becomes inevitable, Sañjaya urges him to witness the terrible outcome of those earlier choices.