Shloka 1

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 64: Arjuna’s Instruction to Sanjaya

Message to the Kuru Assembly

Devanagari script

ऑपनआक्ात बछ। 2 पज्चषष्टितमो< ध्याय: धृतराष्ट्रका दुर्योधनको समझाना धृतराष्ट्र रवाच दुर्योधन विजानीहि यत्‌ त्वां वक्ष्यामि पुत्रक । उत्पथं मन्यसे मार्गमनभिज्ञ इवाध्वग:,धृतराष्ट्र बोले--बेटा दुर्योधन! मैं तुमसे जो कुछ कहता हूँ, उसपर ध्यान दो। तुम इस समय अनजान बटोहीके समान कुमार्गको भी सुमार्ग समझ रहे हो

Transliteration

dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca — duryodhana vijānīhi yat tvāṁ vakṣyāmi putraka | utpathaṁ manyase mārgam anabhijña ivādhvagaḥ ||

Translation

ധൃതരാഷ്ട്രൻ പറഞ്ഞു—‘പുത്രാ ദുര്യോധനാ, ഞാൻ പറയുന്നതു മനസ്സിലാക്കുക. വഴിയറിയാത്ത യാത്രക്കാരനെപ്പോലെ നീ കുപഥത്തെയേ സത്പഥമെന്നു കരുതുന്നു.’

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca', 'definition': 'Dhṛtarāṣṭra said'}, {'term': 'duryodhana', 'definition': 'Duryodhana (eldest Kaurava prince)'}, {'term': 'vijānīhi', 'definition': 'know, understand (imperative)'}, {'term': 'yat', 'definition': 'what, that which'}, {'term': 'tvām', 'definition': 'to you'}, {'term': 'vakṣyāmi', 'definition': 'I will say, I will tell'}, {'term': 'putraka', 'definition': 'dear son (vocative, affectionate)'}, {'term': 'utpatham', 'definition': 'wrong path, deviation, unrighteous course'}, {'term': 'manyase', 'definition': 'you think, you consider'}, {'term': 'mārgam', 'definition': 'path, way (also: right course)'}, {'term': 'anabhijñaḥ', 'definition': 'unaware, unacquainted, ignorant'}, {'term': 'iva', 'definition': 'as if, like'}, {'term': 'adhvagaḥ', 'definition': 'traveler, wayfarer'}]

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Dhṛtarāṣṭra
• Duryodhana

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A person blinded by attachment and pride can mistake an unethical course (utpatha) for the true path (mārga). The verse urges discernment and willingness to accept corrective counsel before actions harden into irreversible harm.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva, as war approaches, Dhṛtarāṣṭra addresses his son Duryodhana and begins a warning: Duryodhana is behaving like an ignorant traveler, misjudging the road—an ethical rebuke meant to turn him away from a ruinous policy toward the Pāṇḍavas.