Shloka 18
उद्योगपर्व — गान्धारी-उपदेशः
Udyoga Parva — Gandhārī’s Counsel to Duryodhana
कृत्वा बहुन्यकार्याणि पाण्डवेषु नृशंसवत् | मिथ्यावृत्तिरनार्य: सन्नद्य विप्रतिपद्यसे
kṛtvā bahūny akāryāṇi pāṇḍaveṣu nṛśaṃsavat | mithyāvṛttir anāryaḥ sann adya vipratipadyase ||
पाण्डवों के प्रति नृशंसता से बहुत-से अनुचित कर्म करके, मिथ्याचारी और अनार्य होकर भी, आज तू अपने ही मार्ग से डगमगा रहा है।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A person who has long acted with cruelty and deceit cannot credibly claim moral hesitation at the last moment; ethical integrity requires consistency grounded in truth (satya) and noble conduct (ārya).
The narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana characterizes an interlocutor as having repeatedly harmed the Pāṇḍavas and lived by falsehood, and now—at a critical juncture—showing wavering or self-contradiction, highlighting moral inconsistency amid escalating conflict.