न हि राज्यं महाप्राज्ञ स्वेन कामेन शक्यते ॥
अवाप्तुं रक्षितुं वापि भोक्तुं वा भरतर्षभ ॥
न ह्य् अवश्येन्द्रियो राज्यम् अश्नीयाद् दीर्घम् अन्तरम् ॥
विजितात्मा तु मेधावी स राज्यम् अभिपालयेत् ॥
कामक्रोधौ हि पुरुषम् अर्थेभ्यो व्यपकर्षतः ॥
तौ तु शत्रू विनिर्जित्य राजा विजयते महीम् ॥
लोकेश्वरप्रभुत्वं हि महद् एतद् दुरात्मभिः ॥
राज्यं नामेप्सितं स्थानं न शक्यम् अभिरक्षितुम् ॥
इन्द्रियाणि महत् प्रेप्सुर् नियच्छेद् अर्थधर्मयोः ॥
इन्द्रियैर् नियतैर् बुद्धिर् वर्धते ऽग्निर् इवेन्धनैः ॥
na hi rājyaṃ mahāprājña svena kāmena śakyate ||
avāptuṃ rakṣituṃ vāpi bhoktuṃ vā bharatarṣabha ||
na hy avaśyendriyo rājyam aśnīyād dīrgham antaram ||
vijitātmā tu medhāvī sa rājyam abhipālayet ||
kāmakrodhau hi puruṣam arthebhyo vyapakarṣataḥ ||
tau tu śatrū vinirjitya rājā vijayate mahīm ||
lokeśvaraprabhutvaṃ hi mahad etad durātmabhiḥ ||
rājyaṃ nāmepsitaṃ sthānaṃ na śakyam abhirakṣitum ||
indriyāṇi mahat prepsur niyacched arthadharmayoḥ ||
indriyair niyatair buddhir vardhate 'gnir ivendhanaiḥ ||
'"A kingdom, O greatly wise one, cannot be obtained, protected, or enjoyed by one's own will alone, O bull among the Bharatas. One who has not mastered his senses will not long enjoy the kingdom; but the wise one who has conquered himself protects the kingdom. Desire and anger draw a man away from his true aims; but by fully conquering these two enemies, a king conquers the earth. This great lordship over the world, this station called the kingdom coveted by the wicked-souled, cannot be preserved. Let one who desires greatness restrain his senses for the sake of profit and dharma; when the senses are restrained, the intellect grows, as fire grows with fuel."'
3b3a90f621fc · published Jul 17, 2026, 5:51:08 AM UTC
Available inRUENPage between verses with
Gandhari speaks as a mother and as the bearer of sober dharma: a kingdom cannot be held by will alone if a man has not conquered his own senses. The essence of her speech is not an emotional plea but a political-ethical diagnosis: desire, anger, and greed strip Duryodhana of his helpers, destroy the family, and make war inevitable.