धृतराष्ट्रस्य पाण्डवेषु प्रीति-वृत्तान्तः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Affectionate Disposition toward the Pāṇḍavas
हृदये शल्यभूतानि धारयामि सहस्रश: । इस तरह अपनी की हुई हजारों भूलें मैं अपने हृदयमें धारण करता हूँ, जो इस समय काँटोंके समान कसक पैदा करती हैं
hṛdaye śalyabhūtāni dhārayāmi sahasraśaḥ |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra sprach: „In meinem Herzen trage ich, zu Tausenden, die Fehler, die ich begangen habe — nun sitzen sie wie Widerhaken darin und durchbohren mich mit unablässigem Schmerz.“
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Unchecked attachment and moral blindness in leadership culminate in lasting inner punishment: one’s own misdeeds return as ‘thorns in the heart’—remorse and self-reproach that cannot be escaped by external power.
In the Āśramavāsika context, the aged Dhṛtarāṣṭra reflects on the catastrophic outcome of his choices and partiality; he confesses that countless past errors now torment him internally like embedded thorns.