Shloka 19
Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Duryodhana Dialogue on Peace and the Refusal of Compromise
धृतराष्ट्र रवाच सर्वान् वस्तात शोचामि त्यक्तो दुर्योधनो मया । ये मन्दमनुयास्यध्वं यान्तं वैवस्वतक्षयम्
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca — sarvān vo ’tāta śocāmi tyakto duryodhano mayā | ye mandam anuyāsyadhvaṃ yāntaṃ vaivasvatakṣayam ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “O dear sons, I grieve for you all. I have cast off Duryodhana. Whoever among you chooses to follow that foolish man as he goes toward the abode of Vaivasvata (Yama), for all of them I am sunk in sorrow.”
दुर्योधन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Blind loyalty to an unrighteous leader leads to ruin; ethical discernment requires refusing to follow folly even when it is bound up with family or faction. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s grief underscores the moral cost of adharma and the inevitability of consequences symbolized by ‘Yama’s abode’.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war tensions, Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses the Kauravas, declaring that he has ‘abandoned’ Duryodhana and lamenting those who will still follow him on a path that ends in death—figuratively described as going to Vaivasvata (Yama).