Shloka 18

उद्योगपर्व — गान्धारी-उपदेशः

Udyoga Parva — Gandhārī’s Counsel to Duryodhana

Devanagari script

कृत्वा बहुन्यकार्याणि पाण्डवेषु नृशंसवत्‌ | मिथ्यावृत्तिरनार्य: सन्नद्य विप्रतिपद्यसे

Transliteration

kṛtvā bahūny akāryāṇi pāṇḍaveṣu nṛśaṃsavat | mithyāvṛttir anāryaḥ sann adya vipratipadyase ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “Having committed many wrongful deeds against the Pāṇḍavas with ruthless cruelty, you—living by falsehood and behaving as one ignoble—now find yourself wavering and contradicting your own course.”

Word by Word

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Karma
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (absolutive/gerund), कर्तरि

• बहूनि: many
• बहूनि: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बहु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• अकार्याणि: wrong deeds / improper acts
• अकार्याणि: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: अकार्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Plural

• पाण्डवेषु: towards/among the Pāṇḍavas
• पाण्डवेषु: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाण्डव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Plural

• नृशंसवत्: cruelly / like a villain
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नृशंसवत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: वत्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (adverbial)

• मिथ्यावृत्तिः: one whose conduct is false / of false conduct
• मिथ्यावृत्तिः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: मिथ्यावृत्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• अनार्यः: ignoble / unworthy
• अनार्यः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनार्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• सन्: being
• सन्: Karta
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमान कृदन्त (present participle), कर्तरि, Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अद्य: today / now
• अद्य: Adhikarana
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अद्य (अव्यय)
• Form: कालवाचक अव्यय

• विप्रतिपद्यसे: you act perversely / you go astray / you behave contrary
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + प्रति + पद् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), आत्मनेपद, Second, Singular, कर्तरि

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Pāṇḍavas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A person who has long acted with cruelty and deceit cannot credibly claim moral hesitation at the last moment; ethical integrity requires consistency grounded in truth (satya) and noble conduct (ārya).

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana characterizes an interlocutor as having repeatedly harmed the Pāṇḍavas and lived by falsehood, and now—at a critical juncture—showing wavering or self-contradiction, highlighting moral inconsistency amid escalating conflict.