Shloka 3
Chapter 26: Śoka-pratiṣedha, Hata-saṅkhyā, Gati-vibhāga, Pretakārya-ājñā
Restraint of Grief, Count of the Slain, Destinies, and Funerary Directives
निष्टरं वैरपुरुषं वृद्धानां शासनातिगम् । कथमात्मकृतं दोषं॑ मय्याधातुमिहेच्छसि,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?
niṣṭhuraṁ vai rapuruṣaṁ vṛddhānāṁ śāsanātigam | katham ātmakṛtaṁ doṣaṁ mayy ādhātum ihecchasi ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “He was truly a cruel man, the very embodiment of enmity, and one who overstepped the commands of the elders. How can you wish, here and now, to place upon me the blame for a fault that was brought about by your own actions?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
One should not shift responsibility for wrongdoing onto others; ethical accountability requires owning faults that arise from one’s own choices, especially when one has empowered an unrighteous leader who disregards elders’ counsel.
In the Strī Parva’s lamentation context after the war, Vaiśaṃpāyana reports a rebuke: Duryodhana is characterized as cruel and disobedient to elders, and the listener is challenged for trying to attribute to another person the blame for consequences that stem from their own actions in supporting him.