Shloka 22

Devanagari script

मत्कृते भ्रातृसौहार्दाद्‌ राज्य भ्रष्टा वनं गता: । परिक्लिष्टा तथा कृष्णा मत्कृते मधुसूदन,“मधुसूदन! मेरे लिये भ्रातृस्नेहवश ये भाई राज्यसे वंचित हुए और वनमें भी गये। मेरे ही कारण कृष्णाको भरी सभामें अपमानका कष्ट भोगना पड़ा

Transliteration

matkṛte bhrātṛ-sauhārdād rājya-bhraṣṭā vanaṃ gatāḥ | parikliṣṭā tathā kṛṣṇā matkṛte madhusūdana ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „Um meinetwillen—aus brüderlicher Zuneigung—wurden diese Brüder ihres Reiches beraubt und gingen in den Wald. Und um meinetwillen musste auch Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī) inmitten der vollen Versammlung Demütigung und Schmerz erdulden, o Madhusūdana.“

Word by Word

मत्कृतेfor my sake / because of me

भ्रातृसौहार्दात्from brotherly affection

राज्यkingdom

भ्रष्टाःdeprived / fallen (from)

वनम्to the forest

गताःgone

परिक्लिष्टाafflicted / distressed

तथाalso / likewise

कृष्णाKrishnaa (Draupadi)

मत्कृतेfor my sake / because of me

मधुसूदनO slayer of Madhu (Krishna)

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

Sañjaya

Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)

Kṛṣṇā (Draupadī)

the brothers (Pāṇḍavas, implied)

forest (vana)

assembly hall (sabhā, implied)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights moral accountability: one should recognize how personal choices and attachments can cause harm to others. It frames ethical remorse—acknowledging that loyalty or partiality can lead to injustice (loss of kingdom, exile) and the suffering of the innocent (Draupadī’s humiliation).

What is happening in the narrative?

Sañjaya reports a lament-like statement addressed to Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana), confessing that ‘because of me’ the brothers (the Pāṇḍavas) lost their kingdom and went to the forest, and Draupadī suffered humiliation in the royal assembly—recalling the chain of events that culminates in the Kurukṣetra war.