Shloka 293

समर तद्‌ दुष्कृतं कर्म यद्‌ वृत्तं वारणावते । “दुर्योधन! वारणावत नगरमें जो कुछ हुआ था, राजा धुृतराष्ट्रके और अपने भी उस कुकर्मको तू याद कर ले

samare tad duṣkṛtaṃ karma yad vṛttaṃ vāraṇāvate |

Sañjaya said: “In this battle, recall that evil deed—the wrongdoing that took place at Vāraṇāvata. Duryodhana, remember that sinful act committed there, implicating both King Dhṛtarāṣṭra and yourself.”

स्मरremember
स्मर:
Karma
TypeVerb
Rootस्मृ
Formलोट्, परस्मैपदम्, मध्यम, एकवचनम्
तत्that
तत्:
Karma
TypePronoun
Rootतद्
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्
दुष्कृतम्evil, wicked
दुष्कृतम्:
Karma
TypeAdjective
Rootदुष्कृत
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्
कर्मdeed, act
कर्म:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootकर्मन्
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, द्वितीया, एकवचनम्
यत्which
यत्:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootयद्
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्
वृत्तम्happened, occurred
वृत्तम्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootवृत्त
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, प्रथमा, एकवचनम्, क्त (past passive participle) from √वृत्/√वृत्त् 'to happen/occur'
वारणावतेin Vāraṇāvata (place-name)
वारणावते:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootवारणावत
Formनपुंसकलिङ्गम्, सप्तमी, एकवचनम्

संजय उवाच

S
Sañjaya
D
Duryodhana
D
Dhṛtarāṣṭra
V
Vāraṇāvata

Educational Q&A

Wrongdoing (duṣkṛta karma) is not erased by time or power; it returns as moral and practical consequence. The verse stresses accountability—those who authorize or enable harm share in its guilt, and such adharma ripens amid the very crisis it helped create.

Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, invokes the earlier Vāraṇāvata episode—where the Pāṇḍavas were targeted through a treacherous plot—as a moral reminder directed at Duryodhana. In the context of the ongoing war, the past crime is recalled as a cause and justification for the present calamity.