Shloka 44
Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)
यस्तु कर्तास्य वैरस्थ निकृत्या निकृतिप्रिय: । सो<यं विनिहतः शेते पृथिव्यां पृथिवीपते
yastu kartāsya vairasya nikṛtyā nikṛtipriyaḥ | so 'yaṁ vinihataḥ śete pṛthivyāṁ pṛthivīpate ||
サンジャヤは言った。「だが、この怨讐を奸計によって仕組み—欺きに喜びを見いだした者—その者はいま、地の主よ、討たれて大地に横たわっている。かくして、曲がった策謀とダルマに背く策略の果は、戦の荒廃のただ中で、その企て人へと返ってきたのだ。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores an ethical principle repeatedly affirmed in the Mahābhārata: treachery and delight in deceit (nikṛti) ultimately recoil upon the doer. Even if such tactics seem effective in the short term, they corrode dharma and culminate in ruin and disgrace.
Sañjaya reports to King Dhṛtarāṣṭra that the chief instigator of the present hostility—characterized as one who used deceit and loved deceit—has been slain and now lies on the ground. The line functions as a moral commentary on the downfall of those who foment war through crooked means.