Shloka 343
अध्याय ९ — धृतराष्ट्रस्य युधिष्ठिरं प्रति राजनित्युपदेशः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Counsel on Royal Policy to Yudhiṣṭhira
न भवान् न च ते भृत्या न कर्णो न च सौबल: । “आपका पुत्र उन महात्मा नरेशोंके वधमें कारण नहीं हुआ है। इसी प्रकारन आप, न आपके सेवक, न कर्ण और न शकुनि ही इसमें कारण हैं
na bhavān na ca te bhṛtyā na karṇo na ca saubalaḥ |
Vaiśampāyana berkata: “Bukan engkau, bukan pula para pengiringmu; bukan Karṇa, dan bukan juga Saubala (Śakuni) yang menjadi sebab sebenar pembunuhan raja-raja berjiwa agung itu.” Kata-kata ini mengalihkan beban tanggungjawab moral daripada individu tertentu, seolah-olah bencana perang lahir daripada pertemuan takdir, dosa yang terkumpul, dan runtuhnya dharma, bukan semata-mata kehendak seorang insan.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse emphasizes that assigning blame for a vast moral catastrophe like the Kurukṣetra war cannot be reduced to a few named individuals; it points toward a broader ethical causality—collective adharma, accumulated karma, and the overpowering movement of daiva—while also serving as a consolatory reframing of guilt.
Vaiśampāyana reports a consoling or clarifying statement in which the listener is told that neither he nor his followers, nor prominent figures like Karṇa and Śakuni, were the direct cause of the deaths of the great kings—contextually easing personal remorse and redirecting interpretation toward larger forces behind the war.