Shloka 17
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 50 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Bhīmasena (भीमसेनभयवर्णनम्)
न स जातु वशे तस्थौ मम बाल्येडपि संजय
na sa jātu vaśe tasthau mama bālye 'pi saṃjaya
Dhṛtarāṣṭra berkata: “Sañjaya, bahkan ketika masih kanak-kanak pun, dia tidak pernah sekalipun berada di bawah kekuasaanku.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The line highlights the ethical burden of leadership and parenting: when authority fails to guide a dependent toward restraint, the consequences mature into public harm. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s admission implies a lapse in governance—recognizing that unchecked willfulness, if not corrected early, can become a cause of wider adharma.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and counsel, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to his charioteer-minister Sañjaya, reflecting on his inability to control “him” (contextually, his son) even from childhood—an expression of helplessness and foreboding as conflict approaches.