Shloka 273
अध्याय ९ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति राजनित्युपदेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Royal Policy to Yudhiṣṭhira
न कर्णसौबलाभ्यां च कुरवो यत् क्षयं गता: । “कौरवोंका जो संहार हुआ है, उसमें न दुर्योधनका हाथ है, न आपका। कर्ण और शकुनिने भी इसमें कुछ नहीं किया है
na karṇasaubalābhyāṃ ca kuravo yat kṣayaṃ gatāḥ |
Waiśampāyana berkata: “Kehancuran para Kuru tidak terjadi karena Karṇa dan Saubala (Śakuni). Itu bukanlah perbuatan Duryodhana, bukan pula perbuatanmu; Karṇa dan Śakuni pun bukan pelakunya.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse relativizes personal blame: even prominent figures like Karṇa and Śakuni are not presented as the ultimate cause of the Kuru catastrophe. It gestures toward a broader moral-cosmic causality—accumulated adharma, karma, and daiva—behind collective ruin.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating the aftermath context of the Kuru war in the Āśramavāsika Parva, frames the Kauravas’ annihilation as not simply attributable to particular individuals (here, Karṇa and Śakuni), preparing the reader for a reflection on deeper causes and consequences.