Shloka 5
Ādi Parva, Adhyāya 147 — Kanyā-paridevita
The daughter’s lament on lineage and protection
मात्रा सह प्रदग्धव्या: पाण्डवा: पुरुषर्षभा: । इति व्यवसितं तस्य धार्तराष्ट्रस्य दुर्मते:,दुर्बद्धि दुर्योधनकी यह चेष्टा है कि नरश्रेष्ठ पाण्डव अपनी माताके साथ जला दिये जायूँ
mātrā saha pradagdhavyāḥ pāṇḍavāḥ puruṣarṣabhāḥ | iti vyavasitaṃ tasya dhārtarāṣṭrasya durmateḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “That evil-minded son of Dhṛtarāṣṭra had resolved: ‘Let the Pāṇḍavas—those best of men—be burned to death together with their mother.’” The verse highlights a deliberate, premeditated violation of dharma: the intent to destroy righteous kinsmen through deceitful violence rather than open, honorable conduct.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how adharma begins with a settled inner resolve (vyavasāya) rooted in durmati (perverted judgment). Premeditated harm—especially against one’s own kin and against the righteous—marks a grave ethical collapse, contrasting deceitful violence with the dharmic ideal of restraint and fairness.
Vaiśampāyana reports that Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son (contextually Duryodhana) has decided that the Pāṇḍavas should be burned alive along with their mother—an allusion to the conspiracy to destroy them through a hidden, treacherous method rather than open confrontation.