Shloka 8
युधिष्ठिरस्य कृष्णार्जुनादि-समाश्वासनम्
Yudhiṣṭhira’s reassurance and praise of Kṛṣṇa, Arjuna, Bhīma, and Sātyaki
अप्रियाणां हि वचसां पाण्डवस्य विशेषत: । द्रौपद्याश्न॒ परिक्लेशस्त्वन्मूलो हुभवत् पुरा,'पूर्वकालमें विशेषतः पाण्डुपुत्र युधिष्ठिको जो अप्रिय वचन सुनाये गये और द्रौपदीदेवीको जो कष्ट पहुँचाया गया, इन सबकी जड़ तुम्हीं रहे हो
apriyāṇāṃ hi vacasāṃ pāṇḍavasya viśeṣataḥ | draupadyāś ca parikleśas tvanmūlo hy abhavat purā ||
Sañjaya said: “Indeed, the harsh and unwelcome words spoken—especially against the Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira)—and the suffering inflicted upon Draupadī in earlier times, all had you as their root cause. The moral burden of those insults and that cruelty traces back to your agency.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses moral accountability: public insults and the suffering of the innocent do not arise in isolation; they have identifiable causes, and those who enable or initiate wrongdoing bear responsibility for its consequences.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, points back to earlier wrongs—abusive speech directed at the Pāṇḍavas (especially Yudhiṣṭhira) and the torment of Draupadī—asserting that these injuries originated from the listener’s side as the underlying cause, thereby linking past injustice to the present calamity of war.