Shloka 41
स्त्री-विलापः — गान्धार्याः रणभूमिदर्शनं शापवचनं च
Battlefield Lament and Gāndhārī’s Curse
इच्छतोपेक्षितो नाश: कुरूणां मधुसूदन । यस्मात् त्वया महाबाहो फलं॑ तस्मादवाप्लुहि,महाबाहु मधुसूदन! तुम शक्तिशाली थे। तुम्हारे पास बहुत-से सेवक और सैनिक थे। तुम महान् बलमें प्रतिष्ठित थे। दोनों पक्षोंसे अपनी बात मनवा लेनेकी सामर्थ्य तुममें मौजूद थी। तुमने वेद-शास्त्रों और महात्माओंकी बातें सुनी और जानी थीं। यह सब होते हुए भी तुमने स्वेच्छासे कुरुकुलके नाशकी उपेक्षा की--जानबूझकर इस वंशका विनाश होने दिया। यह तुम्हारा महान् दोष है, अतः तुम इसका फल प्राप्त करो
icchatopekṣito nāśaḥ kurūṇāṃ madhusūdana | yasmāt tvayā mahābāho phalaṃ tasmād avāpluhi ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Madhusūdana, O mighty-armed one—since the destruction of the Kurus was knowingly ignored and allowed by you, therefore receive the fruit of that deed.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses moral accountability for deliberate inaction: knowingly overlooking preventable harm is treated as a culpable act, and one must bear the karmic consequence (phala) of such neglect.
In the aftermath of the war (Stree Parva’s lamentation context), the speaker addresses Kṛṣṇa as Madhusūdana and charges that he allowed the Kuru lineage’s destruction to proceed despite having the power and influence to restrain it, concluding that he must therefore accept the resulting consequence.