Shloka 11

Gāndhārī’s Grief, Vyāsa’s Pacification, and the Ethics of Retaliation (गान्धारी-शोकः शमोपदेशश्च)

Devanagari script

आत्मनोऊतिक्रमं पश्य पुत्रस्य च दुरात्मन: । यदनागसि पाण्डूनां परित्यागस्त्वया कृत:,“आप अपने और दुरात्मा पुत्र दुर्योधनके उस अत्याचारपर तो दृष्टि डालिये, जब कि बिना किसी अपराधके ही आपने पाण्डवोंका परित्याग कर दिया था”

Transliteration

ātmano ’tīkramaṃ paśya putrasya ca durātmanaḥ | yad anāgasi pāṇḍūnāṃ parityāgas tvayā kṛtaḥ ||

Translation

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.

Word by Word

आत्मनःof yourself

उतिक्रमम्transgression, outrage

पश्यsee, consider

पुत्रस्यof (your) son

चand

दुरात्मनःof the evil-souled (one)

यत्that which

अनागसिwhen (they were) guiltless / in the guiltless (state)

पाण्डूनाम्of the Pandavas

परित्यागःabandonment

त्वयाby you

कृतःdone, made

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Pāṇḍavas

Duryodhana

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

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.

What is happening in the narrative?

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.