Shloka 17
स्त्रीपर्व १: धृतराष्ट्रशोकः संजयाश्वासनं च
Strī Parva 1: Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Lament and Saṃjaya’s Consolation
न स्मराम्यात्मन: किंचित् पुरा संजय दुष्कृतम्
na smarāmy ātmanaḥ kiñcit purā sañjaya duṣkṛtam
धृतराष्ट्र उवाच— न स्मराम्यात्मनः किंचित् पुरा संजय दुष्कृतम्।
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a common ethical blind spot: a person may deny personal wrongdoing by narrowing the definition of responsibility to direct action, overlooking complicity, negligence, or failures of restraint. In the Mahābhārata’s moral frame, accountability includes what one permits, enables, or refuses to prevent—especially for a king.
In the opening of Strī Parva, after the catastrophic war, Dhṛtarāṣṭra speaks to Sañjaya in grief and agitation. Here he claims he cannot remember any past misdeed of his own, a statement that sets up the tension between his self-perception and the broader consequences of his partiality and inaction regarding the Kauravas’ conduct.