Shloka 138
अनुक्रमणिकाध्यायः (Anukramaṇikā Adhyāya) — Invocation, Narrator Frame, and Textual Scope
अन्वजानातू ततो द्ूतं धृतराष्ट्र: सुतप्रिय: । तच्छुत्वा वासुदेवस्थ कोप: समभवन्महान्,धृतराष्ट्र अपने उस पुत्रके प्रति अधिक आसक्त थे, अत: उसकी इच्छा जानकर उन्होंने उसे पाण्डवोंके साथ जूआ खेलनेकी आज्ञा दे दी। जब भगवान् श्रीकृष्णने यह समाचार सुना, तब उन्हें धृतराष्ट्रपर बड़ा क्रोध आया
anvajānātu tato dūtaṃ dhṛtarāṣṭraḥ sutapriyaḥ | tac chrutvā vāsudevastha kopaḥ samabhavan mahān |
Thereupon Dhṛtarāṣṭra, blinded by affection for his son, assented to the messenger’s proposal. Hearing this news, Vāsudeva (Kṛṣṇa) was seized by great anger toward Dhṛtarāṣṭra—an ethical outrage at a king’s partiality that enables adharma and sets the ruinous dice-game in motion.
Educational Q&A
A ruler’s attachment (especially to one’s own kin) can corrupt judgment; when a king authorizes wrongdoing out of partiality, he becomes morally responsible for the harm that follows. Kṛṣṇa’s anger highlights the ethical failure of governance that enables adharma.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, influenced by love for his son, agrees to what the messenger conveys—permission connected with the plan to draw the Pāṇḍavas into the dice-game. When Kṛṣṇa hears of this assent, he becomes greatly angered at Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s complicity.