अविध्येयानि हीमानि व्यापादयितुम् अप्य् अलम् ॥
अविधेया इवादान्ता हयाः पथि कुसारथिम् ॥
अविजित्य य आत्मानम् अमात्यान् विजिगीषते ॥
अजितात्माजितामात्यः सो ऽवशः परिहीयते ॥
आत्मानम् एव प्रथमं देशरूपेण यो जयेत् ॥
ततो ऽमात्यान् अमित्रांश् च न मोघं विजिगीषते ॥
वश्येन्द्रियं जितामात्यं धृतदण्डं विकारिषु ॥
परीक्ष्यकारिणं धीरम् अत्यन्तं श्रीर् निषेवते ॥
क्षुद्राक्षेणेव जालेन झषाव् अपिहिताव् उभौ ॥
कामक्रोधौ शरीरस्थौ प्रज्ञानं तौ विलुम्पतः ॥
avidhyeyāni hīmāni vyāpādayitum apy alam ||
avidheyā ivādāntā hayāḥ pathi kusārathim ||
avijitya ya ātmānam amātyān vijigīṣate ||
ajitātmājitāmātyaḥ so 'vaśaḥ parihīyate ||
ātmānam eva prathamaṃ deśarūpeṇa yo jayet ||
tato 'mātyān amitrāṃś ca na moghaṃ vijigīṣate ||
vaśyendriyaṃ jitāmātyaṃ dhṛtadaṇḍaṃ vikāriṣu ||
parīkṣyakāriṇaṃ dhīram atyantaṃ śrīr niṣevate ||
kṣudrākṣeṇeva jālena jhaṣāv apihitāv ubhau ||
kāmakrodhau śarīrasthau prajñānaṃ tau vilumpataḥ ||
'"Unruly senses are indeed able to destroy, like untamed horses on the road destroying a poor charioteer. Whoever, without conquering himself, desires to conquer his ministers — with self unconquered and ministers unconquered, that helpless man falls into ruin. But whoever first conquers himself, as it were, according to the situation, thereafter does not vainly seek to conquer his ministers and enemies. Fortune fully attends the steadfast one who has mastered his senses, conquered his ministers, wields punishment against wrongdoers, and acts only after due examination. Desire and anger, dwelling in the body like two fish caught in a fine-meshed net, plunder one's understanding."'
852c6211d07a · published Jul 17, 2026, 5:51:08 AM UTC
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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.