धृतराष्ट्रस्य पाण्डवेषु प्रीति-वृत्तान्तः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Affectionate Disposition toward the Pāṇḍavas
हृदये शल्यभूतानि धारयामि सहस्रश: । इस तरह अपनी की हुई हजारों भूलें मैं अपने हृदयमें धारण करता हूँ, जो इस समय काँटोंके समान कसक पैदा करती हैं
hṛdaye śalyabhūtāni dhārayāmi sahasraśaḥ |
ಧೃತರಾಷ್ಟ್ರನು ಹೇಳಿದನು— “ನಾನು ಮಾಡಿದ ಸಾವಿರಾರು ತಪ್ಪುಗಳನ್ನು ಶಲ್ಯಗಳಂತೆ ಹೃದಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊತ್ತಿದ್ದೇನೆ; ಅವು ಈಗ ಮುಳ್ಳಿನಂತೆ ಚುಚ್ಚುತ್ತಾ ನಿರಂತರವಾಗಿ ನನಗೆ ವೇದನೆ ಕೊಡುತ್ತಿವೆ.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Unchecked attachment and moral blindness in leadership culminate in lasting inner punishment: one’s own misdeeds return as ‘thorns in the heart’—remorse and self-reproach that cannot be escaped by external power.
In the Āśramavāsika context, the aged Dhṛtarāṣṭra reflects on the catastrophic outcome of his choices and partiality; he confesses that countless past errors now torment him internally like embedded thorns.