Shloka 45
Duryodhana’s Post-Duel Lament and Instructions (भग्नसक्थस्य विलापः)
त्वया कालोपसूष्टेन लोभतो नापवर्जिता: । तवापराधान्नूपते सर्व क्षत्रं क्षयं गतम्,'परंतु कालसे प्रेरित हो आपने लोभवश वे पाँच गाँव भी नहीं दिये। नरेश्वर! आपके अपराधसे समस्त क्षत्रियोंका विनाश हो गया
tvayā kālopasṛṣṭena lobhato nāpavarjitāḥ | tavāparādhān nṛpate sarva-kṣatraṃ kṣayaṃ gatam ||
Vaiśampāyana sprach: Vom Zeitlauf selbst getrieben und von Gier beherrscht, gabst du nicht einmal jene (fünf Dörfer) preis. O König, durch dein Vergehen ist der ganze Kriegerstand ins Verderben geführt worden.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Greed that refuses even a small, just concession can trigger vast harm; when adharma is chosen, its consequences spread beyond the individual to society. The verse also highlights the Mahābhārata theme that Kāla (Time/destiny) can propel events, yet moral culpability remains with the agent who acts from lobha.
The narrator Vaiśampāyana attributes the annihilation of the warrior class to the king’s fault: under the pressure of Kāla and driven by greed, he would not yield even the five villages demanded for peace, and that refusal culminated in the great war and the ruin of the Kṣatriyas.