Shloka 29
कर्णनिधनवृत्तान्तनिवेदनम् | Reporting Karṇa’s Fall to Yudhiṣṭhira
कुन्तीकुमार! बताओ तो तुम धर्मके सूक्ष्म एवं दुर्बोध स्वरूपका अच्छी तरह विचार किये बिना ही अपने ज्येष्ठ भ्राताका वध करनेके लिये कैसे दौड़ पड़े? ।। इदं धर्मरहस्यं च तव वक्ष्यामि पाण्डव । यद् ब्रूयात् तव भीष्मो हि पाण्डवो वा युधिषछिर:,पाण्डुनन्दन! मैं तुम्हें यह धर्मका रहस्य बता रहा हूँ। धनंजय! पितामह भीष्म, पाण्डुपुत्र युधिष्ठिर विदुरजी अथवा यशस्विनी कुन्तीदेवी--ये लोग तुम्हें धर्मके जिस तत्त्वका उपदेश कर सकते हैं, उसीको मैं ठीक-ठीक बता रहा हूँ। इसे ध्यान देकर सुनो
kuntīkumāra! brūhi—dharma-sūkṣmaṃ durbodhaṃ ca svarūpaṃ samyak avicārya kathaṃ tvaṃ jyeṣṭha-bhrātṛ-vadhaṃ kartum dhāvasi? idaṃ dharma-rahasyaṃ ca te vakṣyāmi, pāṇḍava. yad brūyāt tava bhīṣmo hi pāṇḍavo vā yudhiṣṭhiraḥ, viduro vā, yaśasvinī vā kuntī-devī—tad eva te yathāvat pravakṣyāmi. etat samāhita-manāḥ śṛṇu, dhanañjaya.
Krishna said: “Son of Kunti, tell me—how have you rushed to kill your eldest brother without first reflecting well on the subtle and hard-to-grasp nature of dharma? I will explain to you this secret of dharma, O Pandava. Whatever teaching on this principle Bhishma, or Yudhishthira the Pandava, or Vidura, or the illustrious Lady Kunti could give you—exactly that I shall state to you correctly. Listen to it with a collected mind, O Dhananjaya.”
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is subtle and cannot be acted upon impulsively; before committing an extreme act like killing one’s elder brother, one must reflect deeply and seek the inner principle (rahasya) of dharma as taught by reliable authorities.
Krishna restrains and questions Arjuna’s impulse to slay his eldest brother Yudhishthira, then promises to reveal the ‘secret of dharma’—the same counsel that revered elders (Bhishma, Vidura) and family authorities (Yudhishthira, Kunti) would give—urging Arjuna to listen with a composed mind.