Shloka 2
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
यत् त्वं पुत्रं दुरात्मानमीर्षुमत्यन्तमानिनम् । दुर्योधन पुरस्कृत्य दुष्कृतं साधु मन््यसे,तुम्हारा पुत्र दुर्योधन दुरात्मा, दूसरोंसे ईर्ष्या एवं जलन रखनेवाला और अत्यन्त अभिमानी था। दुष्कर्मपरायण, निष्ठुर, वैरका मूर्तिमान् स्वरूप और बड़े-बूढ़ोंकी आज्ञाका उल्लंघन करनेवाला था। तुमने उसको अगुआ बनाकर जो अपराध किया है, उसे कया तुम अच्छा समझती हो? अपने ही किये हुए दोषको यहाँ मुझपर कैसे लादना चाहती हो?
yat tvaṁ putraṁ durātmānam īrṣum atyantamāninam | duryodhana-puraskṛtya duṣkṛtaṁ sādhu manyase ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “Your son—wicked at heart, consumed by envy, and exceedingly proud—was Duryodhana. Making him your leader and putting him in front, you committed wrongdoing; do you really regard that as good? How can you now try to shift the blame for your own fault onto me?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse stresses moral accountability: elevating a corrupt, envy-driven leader and then calling the resulting wrongdoing “good” is self-deception. One must own one’s choices rather than transferring blame to others.
In the aftermath of the war (Strī Parva’s lamentation context), Vaiśampāyana rebukes the attempt to justify past actions by pointing to Duryodhana’s character and to the decision to place him at the forefront, insisting that the responsibility for that choice cannot be shifted onto someone else.