अर्जुन श्रीकृष्णके कहनेसे युधिष्ठिरके प्रति जो तिरस्कारपूर्ण वचन बोले थे, इसके कारण वे मन-ही-मन ऐसे उदास हो गये थे मानो कोई पाप कर बैठे हों ।।
tato 'bravīd vāsudevaḥ prahasann iva pāṇḍavam | kathaṃ nāma bhaved etad yadi tvaṃ pārtha dharmajam ||
Entonces Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa), como si sonriera, habló al Pāṇḍava (Arjuna): “¿Cómo puede ser esto, Pārtha? Si te hundes en pena sólo por haber tratado al rey (Yudhiṣṭhira) con un ‘tú’ demasiado familiar, ¿cuál sería tu estado si de veras hubieras dado muerte a Dharmarāja—Yudhiṣṭhira, firme en el dharma—con una espada de filo agudo?”
संजय उवाच
Even a small breach of respect toward a righteous elder/king can weigh heavily on a conscientious person; Kṛṣṇa highlights proportionality and self-awareness—if mere harsh speech causes such remorse, one must be vigilant not to let anger drive one toward truly adharma actions.
After Arjuna has spoken contemptuously to Yudhiṣṭhira at Kṛṣṇa’s prompting, he becomes inwardly dejected as if guilty of sin. Seeing this, Kṛṣṇa addresses Arjuna with a half-smile, pointing out how deeply Arjuna grieves over a minor disrespect and rhetorically asks how he would fare if he had actually killed dharma-abiding Yudhiṣṭhira.