Shloka 20
स्त्रीपर्व — अध्याय १५: गान्धारी-युधिष्ठिर-संवादः
Gandhārī’s Confrontation and Consolation of Yudhiṣṭhira
न मामहसि गान्धारि दोषेण परिशड्कितुम् । अनिगृहा पुरा पुत्रानस्मास्वनपकारिषु । अधुना कि नु दोषेण परिशड्कितुमरहसि,माता गान्धारी! आपको मुझमें दोषकी आशंका नहीं करनी चाहिये। पहले जब हमलोगोंने कोई अपराध नहीं किया था, उस समय हमपर अत्याचार करनेवाले अपने पुत्रोंकी तो आपने रोका नहीं; फिर इस समय आप क्यों मुझपर दोषारोपण करती हैं?
na mām ahasi gāndhāri doṣeṇa pariśaṅkitum | anigṛhā purā putrān asmāsv anapakāriṣu | adhunā kiṁ nu doṣeṇa pariśaṅkitum arhasi, mātā gāndhāri |
Bhīmasena said: “Gāndhārī, you ought not to suspect me of wrongdoing. Formerly, when we had done you no harm, you did not restrain your sons as they committed outrages against us. Why then, now, do you deem it right to cast suspicion on me for some fault, O mother Gāndhārī?”
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical accountability: elders and guardians bear responsibility to restrain wrongdoing within their own circle, and it is unjust to suspect or blame the innocent—especially after failing to prevent earlier, proven harms.
In the aftermath of the war, Gāndhārī’s grief and anger lead her to suspect or reproach Bhīma. Bhīma responds that she did not curb her sons when they oppressed the blameless Pāṇḍavas, and therefore she should not now impute fault to him.