Shloka 99
अन्धस्य नृपतेर्यष्टिलुब्धस्यादीर्घदर्शिन:,“लोभी, अदूरदर्शी और अन्धे राजाके लिये तुम लाठीके सहारे हो। मैंने उनसे युद्ध रोकनेके लिये बारंबार याचना की थी, परंतु दैवसे उनकी बुद्धि मारी गयी थी; इसलिये उन्होंने मेरी बात नहीं सुनी। आज वे संकटसे पीड़ित हैं, बेटा! इस अवस्थामें एकमात्र तुम्हीं उन्हें सहारा देनेके लिये जीवित हो
andhasya nṛpater yaṣṭilubdhasyādīrghadarśinaḥ | lobhī adūradarśī ca andho rājā yasya tvaṃ yaṣṭisahāyaḥ | mayā tasya yuddhaṃ nivārayituṃ punaḥ punaḥ prārthitaṃ, kintu daivāt tasya buddhir hatā; tasmān mama vacanaṃ na śuśrāva | adya sa saṅkaṭena pīḍitaḥ, putra! asyām avasthāyām ekamātras tvaṃ eva jīvitaḥ, yaḥ taṃ dhārayituṃ śaknuṣyasi ||
Sanjaya said: “For that blind king—greedy for the staff’s support and lacking far-sighted judgment—you are the very prop he leans on. Again and again I pleaded with him to stop the war, but by fate his understanding was struck down; therefore he did not heed my words. Today he is crushed by calamity, my son. In this condition, you alone remain alive to be his support.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts wise counsel with a ruler’s moral and intellectual blindness: greed and short-sightedness make one dependent on others for guidance, and when fate (or one’s own hardened disposition) overwhelms judgment, even repeated good advice goes unheeded—leading to calamity and belated reliance on the very supports previously ignored.
Sanjaya addresses the situation of the blind king Dhṛtarāṣṭra, recalling that he repeatedly urged him to stop the war. Since the king did not listen and is now overwhelmed by disaster, Sanjaya points out that the addressee is effectively the king’s remaining support in his crisis.