Mahabharata 11.13.11 — Stree Parva, Adhyaya 13, Shloka 11
Gāndhārī’s Grief, Vyāsa’s Pacification, and the Ethics of Retaliation (गान्धारी-शोकः शमोपदेशश्च)
आत्मनोऊतिक्रमं पश्य पुत्रस्य च दुरात्मन: । यदनागसि पाण्डूनां परित्यागस्त्वया कृत:
ātmano ’tīkramaṃ paśya putrasya ca durātmanaḥ | yad anāgasi pāṇḍūnāṃ parityāgas tvayā kṛtaḥ ||
Lihatlah kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh dirimu sendiri, dan juga oleh puteramu yang berhati jahat—bahawa engkau telah meninggalkan para Pāṇḍava walaupun mereka tidak bersalah. Bait ini menuntut perhitungan etika: malapetaka yang kini terbentang berakar pada penolakan yang tidak adil terhadap orang yang tidak bersalah pada masa lampau.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges moral self-examination and accountability: present suffering is traced to earlier adharma—specifically, the unjust abandonment of the innocent Pāṇḍavas and complicity in a son’s wrongdoing.
In the Strī Parva’s lamentation context after the war, the speaker (Vaiśampāyana narrating) highlights a prior ethical failure—rejecting the blameless Pāṇḍavas—pointing to it as a root cause behind the catastrophe associated with Duryodhana’s conduct.
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