Shloka 12
अध्याय १२२ — कृष्णस्य दुर्योधनं प्रति नीत्युपदेशः
Kṛṣṇa’s Ethical Counsel to Duryodhana
बहुवर्षसहस्रान्तं प्रजापालनवर्धितम् | अनेकक्रतुदानौधैरर्जितं मे महत् फलम्
bahuvarṣasahasrāntaṁ prajā-pālana-vardhitam | aneka-kratu-dānaughair arjitaṁ me mahat phalam | kathaṁ tat sarvaṁ alpa-kālena naṣṭaṁ mayā saha | yena aham iha-sthānād adhaḥ pātitaḥ | bhagavan mahādyute mama sat-karmabhiḥ prāptān sanātanān lokān tvam jānāsi | tat me puṇyaṁ sahasā kathaṁ naṣṭam abhavat ||
Over many thousands of years I had amassed a great store of merit through countless sacrifices and gifts, and I had further increased it by the dharma of protecting my subjects. How did all of that get destroyed in so short a time—so that I was cast down from this state and made to fall? O Blessed One, O greatly radiant Lord, you know the eternal worlds I had attained by my good deeds. How, then, did my merit suddenly perish?
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even vast merit accumulated through sacrifice, charity, and righteous governance can be exhausted or nullified; the verse highlights the fragility of reward-based virtue and prompts inquiry into what causes the loss of puṇya (e.g., ethical lapse, pride, or some counteracting act).
Nārada, having been cast down from a higher state, addresses a radiant divine figure and asks why the great merit he earned over thousands of years—through yajñas, gifts, and protection of subjects—was suddenly destroyed, resulting in his fall.