Shloka 173
यस्येदं फलमद्येह मया मूढेन भुज्यते । संजय! इस जन्ममें पहले कभी अपना किया हुआ कोई ऐसा पाप मुझे नहीं याद आ रहा है, जिसका मुझ मूढ़को आज यहाँ यह फल भोगना पड़ रहा है
yasyedaṃ phalam adyeha mayā mūḍhena bhujyate | sañjaya! asmin janmani pūrvaṃ kadācana svayaṃ kṛtaṃ tādṛśaṃ pāpaṃ me na smaryate, yasya phalaṃ mayā mūḍhena adya iha bhoktavyaṃ bhavati |
Dhṛtarāṣṭra dit : « Sañjaya, moi—dans mon égarement—je subis aujourd’hui ici même cette conséquence. Pourtant, en cette vie, je ne me souviens pas d’avoir commis auparavant, de ma propre main, un péché tel que je doive maintenant être contraint d’en endurer le fruit. »
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how delusion can obscure moral causality: Dhṛtarāṣṭra feels the crushing ‘fruit’ of events yet fails to recognize his own complicity. Ethically, it points to the danger of self-exculpation and the need for honest self-assessment regarding one’s role in wrongdoing and its consequences.
In the opening of the Strī Parva, after the devastation of the Kurukṣetra war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to Sañjaya in grief and bewilderment. He says he is suffering a terrible result now, yet he cannot remember any personal sin in this life that would justify such suffering—revealing his confusion and moral blindness amid the aftermath.