अश्रमवासिनां विषादः — Lament in Hastināpura after the Elders’ Forest Withdrawal
घातिता पृथिवी येन सहया सनरद्विपा । पापपूर्ण विचार रखनेवाले उस दुर्योधनने निरपराध पाण्डवोंको सताया तथा घोड़ों, मनुष्यों और हाथियोंसहित इस सारी पृथ्वीके वीरोंका विनाश करा डाला
ghātitā pṛthivī yena sahayā sanaradvipā | pāpapūrṇa-vicāra-rakheṇavāle usa duryodhanena niraparādha-pāṇḍavān satāyā tathā ghoḍoṃ, manuṣyoṃ aura hāthiyoṃ-sahita isa sārī pṛthivīke vīroṃkā vināśa karā ḍālā |
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Bởi hắn mà mặt đất hóa thành bãi tàn sát—cùng với ngựa, người và voi. Duryodhana ấy, lòng đầy mưu toan tội lỗi, đã bức hại các Pāṇḍava vô tội và gây nên sự diệt vong của những anh hùng khắp cõi đời.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse condemns deliberate wrongdoing in leadership: when a ruler driven by sinful intent persecutes the innocent, the harm spreads beyond personal enmity and culminates in widespread, collective destruction. Moral failure at the top becomes societal catastrophe.
Vaiśampāyana characterizes Duryodhana as the agent who oppressed the blameless Pāṇḍavas and thereby caused the annihilation of the world’s warriors—symbolized by the earth being devastated along with its horses, men, and elephants, i.e., the full apparatus of war.