अथाब्रवीन् महाराज धृतराष्ट्रं जनेश्वरम् ॥
पुत्रहार्दाद् धर्मयुक्तं गान्धारी शोककर्शिता ॥
जाते दुर्योधने क्षत्ता महामतिर् अभाषत ॥
नीयतां परलोकाय साध्व् अयं कुलपांसनः ॥
व्यनदज् जातमात्रो हि गोमायुर् इव भारत ॥
अन्तो नूनं कुलस्यास्य कुरवस् तन् निबोधत ॥
मा बालानाम् अशिष्टानाम् अभिमंस्था मतिं प्रभो ॥
मा कुलस्य क्षये घोरे कारणं त्वं भविष्यसि ॥
athābravīn mahārāja dhṛtarāṣṭraṃ janeśvaram ||
putrahārdād dharmayuktaṃ gāndhārī śokakarśitā ||
jāte duryodhane kṣattā mahāmatir abhāṣata ||
nīyatāṃ paralokāya sādhv ayaṃ kulapāṃsanaḥ ||
vyanadaj jātamātro hi gomāyur iva bhārata ||
anto nūnaṃ kulasyāsya kuravas tan nibodhata ||
mā bālānām aśiṣṭānām abhimaṃsthā matiṃ prabho ||
mā kulasya kṣaye ghore kāraṇaṃ tvaṃ bhaviṣyasi ||
Then, O great king, Gandhari, worn down by grief, out of love for her son yet with words joined to dharma, said to Dhritarashtra, lord of men: "When Duryodhana was born, the wise Kshattri said: 'Let this defiler of the lineage be carried off to the next world -- that would be for the best.' For scarcely born, he howled like a jackal, O Bharata. Surely this is the end of the lineage -- understand this, O Kurus. Do not follow, O lord, the counsel of unwise, ill-bred boys; do not become the cause of the terrible destruction of the lineage."
f704b7e78951 · published Jul 16, 2026, 4:12:36 PM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
A mother who loves her son nevertheless places dharma above motherhood: she does not deny the ominous portent of his birth, nor excuse her son's wrongdoing, but pleads with her husband not to become the instrument of the family's common ruin. Herein lies the greatness of righteous love, which desires for the son not victory in unrighteousness, but deliverance from it. It is telling that she, whose nature it is to defend her child, herself recalls the prophecy of his perniciousness: for her, truth is dearer than partiality. The verse teaches that true love does not indulge what is ruinous in the beloved, but resists it; that a mother who prefers truth to her son's advantage loves more truly than a father who indulges evil; and that there is a burden a parent has no right to bear -- becoming the cause of universal ruin for the sake of one.