Shloka 26
उद्योगपर्व (अध्याय १२९) — केशवस्य वैभवप्रदर्शनम् / Krishna’s Theophanic Display in the Kuru Assembly
न त्वहं निन्दितं कर्म कुर्या पापं कथंचन । यद्यपि क्रोधमें भरे हुए इन समस्त कौरवोंको मैं बाँध लेनेकी शक्ति रखता हूँ, तथापि मैं किसी प्रकार भी कोई निन्दित कर्म अथवा पाप नहीं कर सकता ।। पाण्डवार्थ हि लुभ्यन्तः स्वार्थान् हास्यन्ति ते सुता:
na tv ahaṁ ninditaṁ karma kuryā pāpaṁ kathaṁcana | yady api krodham eṁ bhare huye in samasta kauravon ko maiṁ bāṁdha lenekī śakti rakhatā hūṁ, tathāpi ahaṁ kisī prakāra bhī koī nindita karma athavā pāpa nahīṁ kara saktā || pāṇḍavārtha hi lubhyantaḥ svārthān hāsyanti te sutāḥ |
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “I will never perform a blameworthy deed—never commit sin in any way. Even if I have the power to bind all these Kauravas, swollen with anger, still I cannot bring myself to do anything censurable or sinful. For, coveting what belongs to the Pāṇḍavas, those sons will end up forfeiting their own true interests.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral power is not merely the ability to restrain others but the refusal to commit censurable acts even when one has the strength to do so. Anger and greed push people toward adharma, and coveting another’s rightful share ultimately destroys one’s own welfare.
In the tense pre-war setting of the Udyoga Parva, the speaker (as reported by Vaiśaṃpāyana) emphasizes restraint: although he could forcibly bind the enraged Kauravas, he will not choose a sinful or blameworthy course. The verse also warns that the Kaurava princes, driven by desire for the Pāṇḍavas’ due, will end up losing their own interests.