Shloka 24
Duryodhana’s Account of Gandharva Defeat and the Pandavas’ Intervention (दुर्योधनवर्णितो गन्धर्वसंग्रामः)
कृतं मताक्षेण यथा न साधु साधुप्रवृत्तेन च पाण्डवेन । मया च दुष्पुत्रवशानुगेन तथा कुरूणामयमन्तकाल:,'द्यूतप्रेमी शकुनिने जूआ खेलकर कदापि अच्छा नहीं किया। साधुतामें लगे हुए युधिष्ठिरने भी जो उसे तत्काल नहीं मार डाला, यह भी अच्छा नहीं किया। इसी प्रकार कुपुत्रके वशमें पड़कर मैंने भी कोई अच्छा काम नहीं किया है। इसीका फल है कि यह कौरवोंका अन्तकाल आ पहुँचा है
Vaiśampāyana uvāca— kṛtaṃ matākṣeṇa yathā na sādhu sādhupravṛttena ca pāṇḍavena | mayā ca duṣputravaśānugena tathā kurūṇām ayam antakālaḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Ang ginawa ng may matang gaya ng dice (Śakuni) ay hindi kailanman mabuti; at maging ang Pāṇḍava na nakatuon sa matuwid na asal ay hindi rin mabuti—sapagkat hindi niya siya pinaslang agad. Ako man, sa pagsunod sa kapangyarihan ng masamang anak, ay wala ring nagawang mabuti. Bunga nito, dumating na ngayon ang oras ng pagkapuksa para sa mga Kuru.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even a ‘righteous’ person incurs blame when he fails to restrain or punish manifest wrongdoing at the right time; yielding to immoral influence (such as a wicked son) leads to collective ruin, culminating in the destruction of a whole lineage.
The speaker reflects on the dice episode: Śakuni’s gambling-driven act was improper; Yudhiṣṭhira, though virtuous, is faulted for not stopping the wrong decisively; and the elder (implied Dhṛtarāṣṭra) confesses his own failure in submitting to his son’s influence—together presented as causes for the impending end of the Kurus.