Shloka 24

Devanagari script

कृतं मताक्षेण यथा न साधु साधुप्रवृत्तेन च पाण्डवेन । मया च दुष्पुत्रवशानुगेन तथा कुरूणामयमन्तकाल:,'द्यूतप्रेमी शकुनिने जूआ खेलकर कदापि अच्छा नहीं किया। साधुतामें लगे हुए युधिष्ठिरने भी जो उसे तत्काल नहीं मार डाला, यह भी अच्छा नहीं किया। इसी प्रकार कुपुत्रके वशमें पड़कर मैंने भी कोई अच्छा काम नहीं किया है। इसीका फल है कि यह कौरवोंका अन्तकाल आ पहुँचा है

Transliteration

Vaiśampāyana uvāca— kṛtaṃ matākṣeṇa yathā na sādhu sādhupravṛttena ca pāṇḍavena | mayā ca duṣputravaśānugena tathā kurūṇām ayam antakālaḥ ||

Translation

Waiśampāyana berkata: apa yang dilakukan Śakuni si pencinta dadu sama sekali tidak baik; dan bahkan Pāṇḍava yang menempuh dharma pun tidak berbuat baik karena tidak segera menumbangkannya. Aku pun, tunduk pada pengaruh putra yang jahat, tidak melakukan sesuatu yang baik. Maka akibatnya, saat kehancuran bagi kaum Kuru kini telah tiba.

Word by Word

कृतम्done; (a) deed

मताक्षेणby the gambler / by one fond of dice

यथाas; just as

नnot

साधुgood; proper

साधु-प्रवृत्तेनby one engaged in righteousness / good conduct

चand

पाण्डवेनby the Pandava (Yudhiṣṭhira)

मयाby me

चand

दुष्पुत्र-वश-अनुगेनby one following the control of an evil son

तथाso; likewise

कुरूणाम्of the Kurus

अयम्this

अन्तकालःfinal time; end; destruction-time

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Śakuni

Pāṇḍava (Yudhiṣṭhira)

Kurus

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even a ‘righteous’ person incurs blame when he fails to restrain or punish manifest wrongdoing at the right time; yielding to immoral influence (such as a wicked son) leads to collective ruin, culminating in the destruction of a whole lineage.

What is happening in the narrative?

The speaker reflects on the dice episode: Śakuni’s gambling-driven act was improper; Yudhiṣṭhira, though virtuous, is faulted for not stopping the wrong decisively; and the elder (implied Dhṛtarāṣṭra) confesses his own failure in submitting to his son’s influence—together presented as causes for the impending end of the Kurus.