Shloka 3
गालवस्य विषादः तथा विष्णुप्रयाणम्
Gālava’s Despair and Resolve to Seek Viṣṇu
कथं नैनं विमार्गस्थं वारयन्तीह बान्धवा: । सौह्ददाद् वा सुहृत् स्निग्धो भगवान् वा पितामह:
kathaṁ nainaṁ vimārgasthaṁ vārayantīha bāndhavāḥ | sauhṛdād vā suhṛt snigdho bhagavān vā pitāmahaḥ ||
“ഇവിടെ അവൻ കുപഥത്തിൽ ആയിരിക്കെ ബന്ധുക്കൾ എന്തുകൊണ്ട് അവനെ തടഞ്ഞില്ല? അല്ലെങ്കിൽ സൗഹൃദവശാൽ സ്നേഹമുള്ള ഒരു സുഹൃത്ത്—അഥവാ പിതാമഹനായ ഭഗവാൻ വ്യാസൻ തന്നേ—എന്തുകൊണ്ട് അവനെ നിരോധിച്ചില്ല?”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical responsibility: when someone in the family deviates from dharma, relatives and well-wishers are expected to intervene out of goodwill. It also raises the hard question of why moral counsel sometimes fails to prevent self-destructive choices.
Janamejaya asks why a person who has gone astray (contextually, Duryodhana) was not checked by his own kinsmen or by revered elders like Vyāsa. The question frames the coming explanation about failed counsel and the momentum toward war.