Shloka 9
Chapter 6: Dāruka’s Report; Arjuna Witnesses Dvārakā’s Desolation (दारुकवृत्तान्तः—अर्जुनस्य द्वारकादर्शनम्)
तावुभौ वृष्णिनाशस्य मुखमास्तां धनंजय । कुरुश्रेष्ठ धनंजय! वृष्णिवंशके प्रमुख वीरोंमें जिन दोको ही अतिरथी माना जाता था तथा तुम भी चर्चा चलाकर जिनकी प्रशंसाके गीत गाते थे वे श्रीकृष्णके प्रीतिभाजन प्रद्युम्न और सात्यकि ही इस समय वृष्णिवंशियोंके विनाशके प्रमुख कारण बने हैं ।। न तु गहामि शैनेयं हार्दिक्यं चाहमर्जुन
tāv ubhau vṛṣṇināśasya mukham āstāṃ dhanañjaya | na tu gṛhṇāmi śaineyaṃ hārdikyaṃ cāham arjuna ||
तावुभौ वृष्णिनाशस्य मुखमास्तां धनञ्जय । न तु गृह्णामि शैनेयं हार्दिक्यं चाहमर्जुन ॥
वसुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even when particular individuals appear to be the immediate instruments of a catastrophe, ethical judgment should be cautious: complex collective collapse may not be reducible to personal blame alone, especially when larger forces (time, destiny, accumulated causes) are at work.
After the internecine destruction of the Yādavas/Vṛṣṇis, Vasudeva speaks to Arjuna, naming Sātyaki and Pradyumna as the most visible, leading factors in the ruin, yet he refuses to ‘accept’ condemnation of them, signaling both grief and a recognition of the tragedy’s broader inevitability.