Shloka 10
Nala’s Embassy to Damayantī and the Gods’ Proposal (नलस्य दूतत्वं देवप्रस्तावश्च)
यस्य प्रभावान्न मया सभामध्ये धनुष्मत: । नीता लोकममुं सर्वे धार्तराष्ट्रा: ससौबला:,“जिस धरनुर्धर वीरके प्रभावसे प्रभावित होकर मैंने सभामें शकुनिसहित समस्त धृतराष्ट्रपुत्रोंको तुरंत ही यमलोक नहीं भेज दिया
yasya prabhāvān na mayā sabhāmadhye dhanuṣmataḥ | nītā lokam amuṁ sarve dhārtarāṣṭrāḥ sasau-balāḥ ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “Dahil sa nakapanghihilakbot na lakas ng bayaning may busog na iyon, hindi ko—sa gitna mismo ng kapulungan ng mga hari—agad ipinadala ang lahat ng anak ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra, kasama si Śakuni, sa kabilang daigdig (sa kaharian ni Yama).”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between capability and restraint: even when one has the power to destroy wrongdoers instantly, the presence and influence of a formidable warrior (and the norms of the royal court) can check impulsive violence, pointing to the importance of self-control and context in kṣatriya conduct.
The narrator states that, in the royal assembly, he did not immediately consign all Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s sons—along with Śakuni—to death (the ‘other world’), because he was overawed or restrained by the power of a certain bow-wielding hero present in that setting.