Shloka 9
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 126 — Kṛṣṇa’s Indictment of Misrule and the Varuṇa Analogy (कृष्णवाक्यं–धर्मपाशदृष्टान्तः)
अपराधो न चास्माकं यत् ते द्यूते पराजिता: । अजेया जयतां श्रेष्ठ पार्था: प्रत्राजिता वनम्
aparādho na cāsmākaṃ yat te dyūte parājitāḥ | ajeyā jayatāṃ śreṣṭha pārthāḥ pratrājitā vanam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “It is not our fault that those Pāṇḍavas—though deemed unconquerable—were defeated in your dice-game, O best among victors, and were driven away into the forest. The blame does not lie with us.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral argument about culpability: the speaker denies responsibility for the Pāṇḍavas’ defeat in gambling and their consequent exile, highlighting how blame is contested in ethical and political disputes.
In the Udyoga Parva’s lead-up to war, the narration recalls the dice-game outcome: the Pāṇḍavas, though famed as unconquerable, were defeated and compelled to go to the forest; the speaker insists this outcome should not be charged as ‘our’ offence.