Shloka 15
Gautama–Śakra Saṃvāda: Karma, Loka-bheda, and the Restoration of the Elephant
धृतराष्ट उवाच ये निष्क्रिया नास्तिकाश्रद्दधाना: पापात्मान इन्द्रियार्थे निविष्टा: यमस्य ते याततनां प्राप्तुवन्ति परं गन्ता धृतराष्ट्रो न तत्र
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | ye niṣkriyā nāstikāśraddadhānāḥ pāpātmāna indriyārthe niviṣṭāḥ | yamasya te yātanāṁ prāptuvanti paraṁ gantā dhṛtarāṣṭro na tatra |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: Those who are idle in righteous duty, unbelieving, without faith, sinful at heart, and absorbed in the objects of the senses—such people incur the torments of Yama. But King Dhṛtarāṣṭra, he says, is not destined to go there.
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links moral downfall to specific traits—neglect of rightful action, disbelief, lack of faith, sinful intent, and attachment to sense-objects—and states that such dispositions lead to punitive consequences after death under Yama’s judgment.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks about who becomes subject to Yama’s torments, characterizing the condemned as irreligious and sense-enslaved; he then asserts that he himself (as king Dhṛtarāṣṭra) is not among those destined for that fate.