Shloka 216
तन्नूनमन्यथा कर्तु नैच्छत् स जगत: प्रभु: । परंतप अर्जुन! मेरे पुत्ररूपमें अवतीर्ण हुए वे जगदीश्वर गान्धारी तथा महर्षियोंके शापको पलटना नहीं चाहते थे, इसीलिये उन्होंने सदा ही इस संकटकी उपेक्षा की || १५६ || प्रत्यक्ष भवतश्नचापि तव पौत्र: परंतप
tan nūnam anyathā kartuṃ naicchat sa jagataḥ prabhuḥ | parantapa arjuna! me putrarūpeṇāvatīrṇāḥ te jagadīśvarā gāndhārī-tathā-maharṣiṇāṃ śāpaṃ palṭanaṃ na icchanti sma, tasmāt te sadā eva asya saṅkaṭasya upekṣāṃ cakruḥ ||
Surely the Lord of the universe did not wish to make it otherwise. O Arjuna, scorcher of foes: the Supreme Lord who had descended as my son did not desire to overturn the curse pronounced by Gāndhārī and the great sages; therefore he consistently disregarded this looming calamity and allowed it to run its course.
वसुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even the Supreme, though capable of altering outcomes, may choose not to negate a duly incurred curse, allowing moral causality and the integrity of dharma to stand; divine power is shown here as restraint aligned with cosmic order.
Vasudeva explains to Arjuna that Krishna, though the Lord of the universe incarnate as his son, did not wish to overturn the curses of Gāndhārī and the sages; hence he ignored the impending crisis that would culminate in the Yādavas’ catastrophe.