Shloka 9

कृष्ण-दूतविषये दुर्योधनस्य बन्धन-प्रस्तावः — Duryodhana’s Proposal to Detain Krishna

Envoy-Ethics Debate

Devanagari script

पज्च पज्चैव लिप्सन्ति ग्रामकान्‌ पाण्डवा नृूप । न च दित्ससि तेभ्यस्तांस्तच्छमं न करिष्यसि

Transliteration

pañca pañcaiva lipsanti grāmakān pāṇḍavā nṛpa | na ca ditsasi tebhyaḥ tāṁs tac chamaṁ na kariṣyasi narendra ||

Translation

നൃപാ, പാണ്ഡവർക്ക് വേണ്ടത് വെറും അഞ്ചു ഗ്രാമങ്ങൾ മാത്രം; എന്നാൽ നീ അവയും അവർക്കു നൽകാൻ തയ്യാറല്ല. അതിനാൽ നീ സന്ധിയിലൂടെ സമാധാനം സ്ഥാപിക്കുകയില്ലെന്ന് വ്യക്തമാകുന്നു.

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'pañca pañcaiva', 'definition': '‘five and five indeed’

• emphatic expression indicating a minimal demand (five villages for the five brothers)'}, {'term': 'lipsanti', 'definition': 'they desire, seek to obtain'}, {'term': 'grāmakān', 'definition': 'villages'}, {'term': 'pāṇḍavāḥ', 'definition': 'the Pāṇḍavas (sons of Pāṇḍu)'}, {'term': 'nṛpa / narendra', 'definition': 'king

• lord of men (address to Dhṛtarāṣṭra)'}, {'term': 'na ca', 'definition': 'and yet not'}, {'term': 'ditsasi', 'definition': 'you wish to give / you will give (here: you are not willing to give)'}, {'term': 'tebhyaḥ', 'definition': 'to them'}, {'term': 'tān', 'definition': 'those (villages)'}, {'term': 'śamam', 'definition': 'peace, pacification, settlement'}, {'term': 'kariṣyasi', 'definition': 'you will do, you will bring about'}]

Speaker

विदुर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vidura
• Pāṇḍavas
• Dhṛtarāṣṭra

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A ruler’s dharma includes preventing needless war through fair settlement. When even a minimal, reasonable request is refused, it reveals a willful rejection of peace and a moral failure in kingship.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vidura confronts the king (Dhṛtarāṣṭra) during the tense pre-war negotiations, pointing out that the Pāṇḍavas ask only for five villages, yet the king’s side refuses even that, making reconciliation impossible.