Shloka 7
भीष्मस्य भीमसेन-निरोधः
Bhīṣma checks Bhīmasena; matched engagements intensify
मय्येव दण्ड: पतति दैवात् परमदारुण: । यथावध्या: पाण्डुसुता यथा वध्याश्व मे सुता:
mayy eva daṇḍaḥ patati daivāt paramadāruṇaḥ | yathāvadhyāḥ pāṇḍusutā yathā vadhyāś ca me sutāḥ ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “By fate, a most dreadful punishment is falling upon me alone—so that the sons of Pāṇḍu are treated as if they were not to be slain, while my own sons are treated as if they are to be slain.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the tension between blaming fate (daiva) and recognizing moral responsibility: Dhṛtarāṣṭra experiences suffering as ‘punishment’ and interprets events as destiny, yet the ethical backdrop of the epic repeatedly suggests that partiality and adharma generate consequences that feel like fate.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of the unfolding war, laments that a terrible retribution has come upon him: the Pāṇḍavas appear protected (as if ‘unslayable’), while his own sons seem doomed (as if ‘to be slain’), expressing despair and a sense of inevitable loss.