Shloka 16

Devanagari script

एवंबुद्धि: पाण्डवेषु मिथ्यावृत्ति: सदा भवान्‌ । कथं ते नापराधो<स्ति पाण्डवेषु महात्मसु,“ऐसे ही विचार रखकर तू पाण्डवोंके प्रति सदा कपटपूर्ण बर्ताव करता आया है, फिर कैसे मान लिया जाय कि महात्मा पाण्डवोंके प्रति तेरा कोई अपराध ही नहीं है

Transliteration

evaṃbuddhiḥ pāṇḍaveṣu mithyāvṛttiḥ sadā bhavān | kathaṃ te nāparādho 'sti pāṇḍaveṣu mahātmasu ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “Holding such a mindset toward the Pāṇḍavas, you have always behaved with deceit toward them. How, then, can it be accepted that you bear no fault at all against those great-souled Pāṇḍavas?”

Word by Word

एवम्thus, in this manner

बुद्धिःthought, intention, attitude

पाण्डवेषुtowards/with regard to the Pāṇḍavas

मिथ्यावृत्तिःfalse conduct, deceitful behavior

सदाalways

भवान्you (honorific)

कथम्how?

तेof you, your

नnot

अपराधःoffense, fault

अस्तिis, exists

पाण्डवेषुtowards/with regard to the Pāṇḍavas

महात्मसुin/among the great-souled (ones)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

व

वैशम्पायन (Vaiśampāyana)

प

पाण्डव (Pāṇḍavas)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Deceitful conduct toward righteous persons cannot be excused as ‘no offence’; inner intention (buddhi) and sustained behavior (vṛtti) establish moral responsibility (aparādha).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, narrating events of the Udyoga Parva, points out that the addressed person has consistently acted deceitfully toward the Pāṇḍavas, and therefore cannot plausibly claim innocence of wrongdoing against them.