Shloka 29
Udyoga Parva, Adhyaya 31 — Yudhiṣṭhira’s Instructions to Sañjaya
Peace Appeal and Five-Village Proposal
त्वमेवैको जातु पुत्रस्य राजन् वशं गत्वा सर्वलोके नरेन्द्र । कामात्मन: श्लाघनो द्यूतकाले नागा: शमं पश्य विपाकमस्य
tvam evaiko jātu putrasya rājan vaśaṁ gatvā sarvaloke narendra | kāmātmanaḥ ślāghano dyūtakāle nāgāḥ śamaṁ paśya vipākam asya, rājan ||
Sañjaya said: O King, O lord of men, in all the world you alone truly went under the sway of your son and praised him—especially at the time of the dice-game—though he was ruled by desire. Since you would not become calm and desist, behold now with your own eyes the dreadful ripening of that conduct, O King.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
A ruler must not surrender judgment to attachment—especially parental attachment—and must restrain desire-driven wrongdoing early. Praising and enabling adharma, even indirectly, matures into severe consequences (vipāka) that one must eventually face.
Sañjaya rebukes Dhṛtarāṣṭra: he alone indulged and praised his son’s conduct, particularly during the dice-game episode, and failed to choose restraint and peace. Now, as war becomes inevitable, Sañjaya urges him to witness the terrible outcome of those earlier choices.