Shloka 16
अस्मानमी धार्तराष्ट्रा: क्षममाणानलं सतः । अशक्तानिव मन्यन्ते तद् दुःखं नाहवे वध:,“हम शत्रुओंके अपराधको क्षमा करते जा रहे हैं, इसलिये समर्थ होते हुए भी हमें ये धृतराष्ट्रके पुत्र निर्बल-से मानने लगे हैं, यही हमारे लिये महान् दुःख है; युद्धमें मारा जाना कोई दुःख नहीं है
vaiśampāyana uvāca | asmān amī dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ kṣamamāṇān alaṃ sataḥ | aśaktān iva manyante tad duḥkhaṃ nāhave vadhaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Karena kami terus-menerus memaafkan pelanggaran putra-putra Dhṛtarāṣṭra, mereka kini mengira kami—padahal mampu—seolah-olah tak berdaya. Itulah duka kami yang sesungguhnya; gugur di medan perang bukanlah duka.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Forbearance is a virtue, but in a political-ethical conflict it can be misread as incapacity; when forgiveness enables further injustice, the deeper pain is the loss of rightful standing and deterrence, not the risk of death in a just battle.
The speaker (as narrated by Vaiśampāyana) conveys the grievance that the Dhṛtarāṣṭras, seeing repeated patience and pardon, have begun to treat the aggrieved party as weak; the lament frames war-death as less grievous than being dishonored and emboldening aggressors.