वयं तु न भयाद् अस्य कौन्तेयस्य महात्मनः ॥
प्रयच्छामः करान् सर्वे न लोभान् न च सान्त्वनात् ॥
अस्य धर्मप्रवृत्तस्य पार्थिवत्वं चिकीर्षतः ॥
करान् अस्मै प्रयच्छामः सो ऽयम् अस्मान् न मन्यते ॥
किम् अन्यद् अवमानाद् धि यद् इमं राजसंसदि ॥
अप्राप्तलक्षणं कृष्णम् अर्घ्येणार्चितवान् असि ॥
vayaṃ tu na bhayād asya kaunteyasya mahātmanaḥ ||
prayacchāmaḥ karān sarve na lobhān na ca sāntvanāt ||
asya dharmapravṛttasya pārthivatvaṃ cikīrṣataḥ ||
karān asmai prayacchāmaḥ so 'yam asmān na manyate ||
kim anyad avamānād dhi yad imaṃ rājasaṃsadi ||
aprāptalakṣaṇaṃ kṛṣṇam arghyeṇārcitavān asi ||
"We, however, all pay tribute to this great-souled Kaunteya not out of fear, not out of greed, and not from being placated. To him, abiding in dharma and desiring universal kingship, we pay tribute — yet he does not respect us. What is this but humiliation, that in this assembly of kings you have honored with arghya Krishna, who lacks the marks of kingship?"
702a43d2420c · published Jul 16, 2026, 3:40:27 PM UTC
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Shishupala's admission is curious: they pay tribute because Yudhishthira "abides in dharma." It is telling that even the reviler unwittingly testifies to the rightness of the Pandavas — their submission is voluntary, acknowledged as dharma. Yet in the same breath he twists it: he calls the rendering of honor to the Highest a "disrespect" toward himself. The verse teaches how pride reinterprets everything in its own favor: what is in fact an affirmation of truth (the primacy of the Lord), it hears as a personal diminishment. A wounded "I" is incapable of rejoicing in another's exaltation; and where the humble would see a sanctity, the envious sees only an insult dealt to himself.