Shloka 50
रात्रौ युद्धप्रवृत्तिः — Night Battle Begins; Duryodhana’s Protective Orders for Droṇa
Droṇa-parva 139
तन्मा शुचो नरव्यात्र तवैवापनयो महान् | विनाशहेतु: पुत्राणां भवानेव मतो मम,अत: नरश्रेष्ठ आप शोक न कीजिये। इसमें आपका ही महान् अन्याय कारण है। मैं तो आपको ही आपके पुत्रोंके विनाशका मुख्य हेतु मानता हूँ
tan mā śuco naravyāghra tavaivāpanayo mahān | vināśahetuḥ putrāṇāṁ bhavān eva mato mama, ataḥ naraśreṣṭha āpa śoka na kījiye | asmin āpadaḥ kāraṇaṁ tavaiva mahān anyāyaḥ | ahaṁ tu tvām eva tava putrāṇāṁ vināśasya mukhyahetuṁ manye |
Sañjaya said: “Do not grieve, O tiger among men. This great calamity is truly of your own making. In my judgment, you yourself are the chief cause of your sons’ destruction. Therefore, O best of men, do not sink into sorrow: it is your own grave injustice that has brought about this disaster, and I regard you as the principal agent behind the ruin of your children.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral responsibility cannot be evaded: a ruler’s unjust choices and failures of restraint become the root cause of collective ruin. Sañjaya frames grief not as fate alone but as the consequence of adharma, especially when power enables wrongdoing.
In the aftermath of catastrophic losses in the Kurukṣetra war, Sañjaya addresses the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, urging him not to lament as though blameless. He bluntly attributes the destruction of Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons to the king’s own injustice and complicity.