Shloka 34
उद्योगपर्व — गान्धारी-उपदेशः
Udyoga Parva — Gandhārī’s Counsel to Duryodhana
सर्वेषां कुरुवृद्धानां महानयमतिक्रम: । प्रसहा मन्दमैश्वर्ये न नियच्छत यन्नूपम्,“कुरुकुलके सभी बड़े-बूढ़े लोगोंका यह बहुत बड़ा अन्याय है कि आपलोग इस मूर्ख दुर्योधनको राजाके पदपर बिठाकर अब इसका बलपूर्वक नियन्त्रण नहीं कर रहे हैं
sarveṣāṃ kuru-vṛddhānāṃ mahān ayam atikramaḥ | prasahā mandaṃ aiśvaryaṃ na niyacchata yan nṛpam ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “This is a grave transgression on the part of all the elders of the Kuru house: having placed the foolish Duryodhana upon the throne, you do not now restrain that king by force.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Elders and guardians of a polity bear moral accountability: empowering an unfit ruler and then failing to restrain him is itself a serious ethical breach (atikrama). Dharma includes timely correction and restraint of adharma, even when it requires firm action.
In the Udyoga Parva’s tense pre-war context, the speaker condemns the Kuru elders for allowing Duryodhana to wield royal authority without being checked. The verse frames their inaction as complicity in the unfolding injustice that drives the conflict toward war.