Shloka 23
गान्धारराजरचितं सतत जिद्दाबुद्धिना । यस्य कार्यमकार्य वा सममेव भवत्युत
Vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | gāndhārarājaracitaṃ satataṃ jid(d)hābuddhinā | yasya kāryam akāryaṃ vā samam eva bhavaty uta, dharmaputro mahābāhur vilalāpa suvistaram ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana dit : Ce forfait a pu être manigancé par le roi de Gāndhāra, dont l’esprit est sans cesse voué à la ruse : pour lui, ce qu’il faut faire et ce qu’il ne faut pas faire se valent. Voyant ses frères tombés et sans vie, le puissant Dharmaputra (Yudhiṣṭhira) s’abîma dans le chagrin et se lamenta longuement, soupçonnant une telle cruauté chez ceux qui méprisent la frontière entre le devoir et la faute.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
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.
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.