Shloka 86

Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)

Devanagari script

आश्रितस्य तु दौर्बल्यादाश्रय: परिभर्त्स्यते । महाराज! फिर बलदेवजीने कहा--“श्रीकृष्ण! राजा दुर्योधन मेरे समान बलवान था। गदायुद्धमें उसकी समानता करनेवाला कोई नहीं था। यहाँ अन्याय करके केवल दुर्योधन ही नहीं गिराया गया है

Transliteration

āśritasya tu daurbalyād āśrayaḥ paribhartsyate | mahārāja |

Translation

サンジャヤは言った。「大王よ、庇護を求めて身を寄せた者の弱さゆえに、その庇護を与えた守護者こそが罵られ、侮られるのです。」この一句は道義の抗議である。頼る者が害され辱められれば、その不名誉は支えとなった者に跳ね返り、守ることと忠義の倫理が公の問いとして突きつけられる。

Word by Word

• {'āśritasya': 'of one who has taken shelter

• of a dependent/protégé', 'tu': 'but

• indeed (emphatic particle)', 'daurbalyāt': 'because of weakness, infirmity, helplessness', 'āśrayaḥ': 'shelter, support

• protector, patron', 'paribhartsyate': 'will be censured/reproached/insulted

• will be treated with contempt', 'mahārāja': 'O great king (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)'}

Speaker

संजय उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sañjaya
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights a dharmic principle: the protector (āśraya) bears moral and reputational responsibility for the fate of the one who depends on him (āśrita). If the dependent is brought low due to helplessness, the protector is blamed—implying that true protection must include safeguarding honor and fair treatment, not merely offering nominal shelter.

What is happening in the narrative?

Sanjaya reports a charged moral complaint addressed to the king: the humiliation or defeat of a sheltered party is being used to reproach the very patron who supported him. In the Shalya Parva context, this functions as commentary on contested fairness and honor in the climactic combats, where outcomes are judged not only by victory but by the ethics of how victory is obtained.