Shloka 3

Saṃjaya’s Warning to Dhṛtarāṣṭra: Accountability, Alliance-Shift, and the Pāṇḍava Strategic Edge

Devanagari script

नैष कालो महाराज तव शश्चत्‌ कृतागस: । त्वया होवादित: पार्था निकृता भरतर्षभ

Transliteration

na eṣa kālo mahārāja tava śaśvat kṛtāgasaḥ | tvayā hovāditaḥ pārthā nikṛtā bharatarṣabha ||

Translation

Sañjaya sprach: „O König, dies ist nicht der Augenblick für Worte, die Bestand haben sollen; denn seit langem bist du einer, der Unrecht begangen hat. Von Anfang an bist du den Söhnen Kuntīs mit Trug begegnet, o Stier unter den Bhāratas.“

Word by Word

• {'na': 'not', 'eṣaḥ kālaḥ': 'this time/occasion

• the proper moment', 'mahārāja': 'O great king', 'tava': 'of you/your', 'śaśvat': 'always

• permanently', 'kṛta-agasaḥ (kṛtāgasaḥ)': 'one who has done sin/wrong

• offender', 'tvayā': 'by you', 'hova-āditaḥ (prob. ho + āditaḥ)': 'indeed, from the beginning

• at the outset (emphatic particle + ‘begun/started’)', 'pārthāḥ': 'the sons of Pṛthā (Kunti), i.e., the Pāṇḍavas', 'nikṛtāḥ': 'deceived, cheated, wronged', 'bharatarṣabha': 'O best/bull among the Bharatas (honorific address)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sanjaya
• Dhritarashtra (implied by address mahārāja)
• Pandavas
• Kunti (Pṛthā)
• Bharata lineage (Bharatas)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Moral responsibility cannot be erased by late expressions of concern: sustained wrongdoing—especially deceit toward one’s own kin—undermines the credibility and stability of one’s present intentions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya addresses the king (Dhritarashtra), warning that the king’s current thoughts are not firmly reliable because he has, from the outset, acted deceitfully toward the Pandavas (the sons of Kunti).