Shloka 44
Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)
यस्तु कर्तास्य वैरस्थ निकृत्या निकृतिप्रिय: । सो<यं विनिहतः शेते पृथिव्यां पृथिवीपते
yastu kartāsya vairasya nikṛtyā nikṛtipriyaḥ | so 'yaṁ vinihataḥ śete pṛthivyāṁ pṛthivīpate ||
Sañjaya dit : «Mais celui qui ourdit cette inimitié par la perfidie—celui qui se complaisait dans la tromperie—gît à présent ici, abattu sur la terre, ô seigneur de la terre. Ainsi les fruits d’un conseil tortueux et de stratagèmes contraires au dharma sont revenus frapper leur auteur, au milieu des ruines de la guerre.»
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores an ethical principle repeatedly affirmed in the Mahābhārata: treachery and delight in deceit (nikṛti) ultimately recoil upon the doer. Even if such tactics seem effective in the short term, they corrode dharma and culminate in ruin and disgrace.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the chief instigator of the present hostility—characterized as one who used deceit and loved deceit—has been slain and now lies on the ground. The line functions as a moral commentary on the downfall of those who foment war through crooked means.