Shloka 23

Devanagari script

गान्धारराजरचितं सतत जिद्दाबुद्धिना । यस्य कार्यमकार्य वा सममेव भवत्युत,धर्मपुत्रो महाबाहुर्विललाप सुविस्तरम्‌ । अर्जुन मरे पड़े थे; उनके धनुष-बाण इधर-उधर बिखरे थे। भीमसेन और नकुल-सहदेव भी प्राणरहित हो निश्रेष्ट हो गये थे। इन सबको देखकर युधिष्ठिर गरम-गरम लंबी साँसें खींचने लगे। उनके नेत्रोंसे शोकके आँसू उमड़कर उन्हें भिगो रहे थे। अपने समस्त भ्राताओंको इस प्रकार धराशायी हुए देख महाबाह धर्मपुत्र युधिष्ठिर गहरी चिन्तामें डूब गये और देरतक विलाप करते रहे-- “अथवा जिसकी बुद्धिमें सदा कुटिलता ही निवास करती है, उस गान्धारराज शकुनिकी भी यह करतूत हो सकती है। जिसके लिये कर्तव्य और अकर्तव्य दोनों बराबर हैं, उस अजितात्मा पापी शकुनिपर कौन वीर पुरुष विश्वास कर सकता है? अथवा गुप्तरूपसे नियुक्त किये हुए पुरुषोंद्वारा दुरात्मा दुर्योधनने ही यह हिंसात्मक प्रयोग किया होगा”

Transliteration

Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | gāndhārarājaracitaṃ satataṃ jid(d)hābuddhinā | yasya kāryam akāryaṃ vā samam eva bhavaty uta, dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana said: This deed may well have been contrived by the king of Gāndhāra, whose mind is ever bent on crookedness—one for whom what ought to be done and what ought not to be done are equally the same. Seeing his brothers fallen and lifeless, the mighty-armed Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira) sank into grief and lamented at length, suspecting such a ruthless act from those who disregard the boundary between duty and wrongdoing.

Word by Word

गान्धारराजरचितम्done/contrived by the king of Gandhāra

सततम्always, continually

जितदाबुद्धिनाwith a (so-called) conquered/controlled intellect (i.e., crafty mind)

यस्यof whom/whose

कार्यम्what ought to be done; duty

अकार्यम्what ought not to be done; improper act

वाor

समम्equal, the same

एवindeed, just

भवतिis/becomes

उतand also; moreover

धर्मपुत्रःDharma’s son (Yudhiṣṭhira)

महाबाहुःmighty-armed

विललापlamented

सुविस्तरम्at great length; extensively

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśaṃpāyana

Gāndhāra-rāja (Śakuni)

Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights ethical collapse: when a person treats kārya (duty) and akārya (wrongdoing) as equal, trust becomes impossible and harm becomes likely. It implicitly upholds dharma as the capacity to discern and honor the difference between right action and forbidden action.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates Yudhiṣṭhira’s extended lament and suspicion that the calamity befalling him and his brothers could be the work of the Gāndhāra king (Śakuni), characterized as perpetually deceitful and indifferent to moral boundaries.