Shloka 60
Kṛṣṇa at Duryodhana’s House: Refusal of Hospitality and Departure to Vidura (कृष्णस्य धार्तराष्ट्रनिवेशनगमनम्)
दुर्योधनेन निकृता वर्षमद्य चतुर्दशम् । दुःखादपि सुखं न: स्याद् यदि पुण्यफलक्षय:,“दुर्योधनने मेरे पुत्रोंकी कपटटद्यूतके द्वारा राज्यसे वंचित कर दिया। उन्हें इस दुरवस्थामें रहते आज चौदहवाँ वर्ष बीत रहा है। यदि सुख भोगनेका अर्थ है पुण्यके फलका क्षय होना, तब तो पापके फलस्वरूप दुःख भोग लेनेके कारण अब हमें भी दुःखके बाद सुख मिलना ही चाहिये
duryodhanena nikṛtā varṣam adya caturdaśam | duḥkhād api sukhaṃ naḥ syād yadi puṇyaphalakṣayaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “We have been wronged by Duryodhana—deprived of our kingdom through deceit. Today the fourteenth year has passed while we remain in this wretched condition. If the enjoyment of happiness necessarily means the exhaustion of one’s accumulated merit, then, having already endured suffering as the fruit of sin, it follows that after sorrow we too should obtain happiness.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse reflects a karmic-ethical reasoning: if happiness consumes accumulated merit (puṇya), then prolonged suffering—seen as the ripening of past demerit—should logically be followed by a turn toward well-being. It frames endurance of hardship as morally meaningful and anticipates restoration of justice.
The speaker recalls how Duryodhana, through deceit connected with the dice episode, caused the loss of the kingdom and forced a long period of hardship. With the fourteenth year now completed, the statement argues that the time of suffering should give way to rightful happiness and restoration.