Shloka 38
उद्योगपर्व — गान्धारी-उपदेशः
Udyoga Parva — Gandhārī’s Counsel to Duryodhana
“बूढ़े भोजराज उग्रसेनका पुत्र कंस बड़ा दुराचारी एवं अजितेन्द्रिय था। वह अपने पिताके जीते-जी उनका सारा ऐश्वर्य लेकर स्वयं राजा बन बैठा था, जिसका परिणाम यह हुआ कि वह मृत्युके अधीन हो गया ।। उग्रसेनसुत: कंस: परित्यक्त: स बान्धवै: । ज्ञातीनां हितकामेन मया शस्तो महामृथे,“समस्त भाई-बन्धुओंने उसका त्याग कर दिया था, अतः सजातीय बन्धुओंके हितकी इच्छासे मैंने महान् युद्धमें उस उग्रसेनपुत्र कंसको मार डाला
ugrasenasutaḥ kaṁsaḥ parityaktaḥ sa bāndhavaiḥ | jñātīnāṁ hitakāmena mayā śasto mahāmṛdhe ||
Ugrasena’s son Kaṃsa—the aged Bhoja king’s offspring—was depraved and without self-mastery. While his father still lived, he seized all sovereignty and sat himself upon the throne; and thus he became subject to death. Abandoned by his own kinsmen, I slew Kaṃsa, Ugrasena’s son, in the great war, seeking the welfare of my relatives.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler who is self-indulgent and unjust, who seizes power and harms his own people, loses legitimacy and support; his fall is portrayed as a dharmic consequence. The verse also presents violence in war as ethically framed when undertaken for the protection and welfare of one’s community rather than personal gain.
The speaker reports that Kaṃsa, Ugrasena’s son, had been abandoned by his relatives, and that he was slain in a great battle by the narrator, who claims the motive was the welfare of his own kinsfolk.