Shloka 276
उद्योगपर्व (अध्याय १२९) — केशवस्य वैभवप्रदर्शनम् / Krishna’s Theophanic Display in the Kuru Assembly
निगृहा राजन् पार्थेभ्यो दद्यां कि दुष्कृतं भवेत् । भारत! मैं आज ही इन कौरवों तथा इनके अनुगामियोंको कैद करके यदि कुन्तीपुत्रोंके हाथमें सौंप दूँ तो क्या बुरा होगा?
nigṛhya rājan pārthebhyo dadyāṃ ki duṣkṛtaṃ bhavet | bhārata! mayā adyaiva ime kauravāḥ saha anugāmibhiḥ baddhvā yadi kuntīputrāṇāṃ haste samarpitāḥ syuḥ, tatra kiṃ pāpaṃ bhavet?
Vaiśaṃpāyana nói: “Tâu Đại vương, có điều sai trái nào nếu hôm nay ta bắt giữ bọn Kaurava cùng những kẻ theo họ, giam lại, rồi giao vào tay các con trai của Kuntī? Hỡi hậu duệ Bharata, trong việc ấy có hại gì, có tội gì chăng?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a moral-political dilemma: whether forcibly restraining aggressors and delivering them to the wronged party can be justified as dharma. It highlights the tension between preventing harm through decisive action and the risk of committing adharma through coercion or partisan violence.
In Vaiśaṃpāyana’s narration to King Janamejaya, a speaker proposes immediate action against the Kauravas—capturing them with their supporters and handing them over to the Pāṇḍavas—then asks whether such an act would count as wrongdoing or sin.