न जातु तस्य कर्माणि युधि गाण्डीवधन्वनः ॥
अपकृत्वा महत् तात सोढुं शक्ष्यन्ति मामकाः ॥
किं नु दुर्योधनः कृत्यं कर्णः कृत्यं किम् अब्रवीत् ॥
दुःशासनः सौबलश् च तेषाम् एवं गते अपि ॥
सर्वेषां समवेतानां पुत्राणां मम संजय ॥
na jātu tasya karmāṇi yudhi gāṇḍīvadhanvanaḥ ||
apakṛtvā mahat tāta soḍhuṃ śakṣyanti māmakāḥ ||
kiṃ nu duryodhanaḥ kṛtyaṃ karṇaḥ kṛtyaṃ kim abravīt ||
duḥśāsanaḥ saubalaś ca teṣām evaṃ gate api ||
sarveṣāṃ samavetānāṃ putrāṇāṃ mama saṃjaya ||
"Never will my men be able to bear the deeds in battle of the wielder of Gandiva, having done him great harm, dear one. What deed, then, did Duryodhana [plan]? What did Karna say of the deed? Duhshasana and the son of Subala — what of them, though matters have so turned?"
46718464f9c3 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:45:02 PM UTC
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"Apakṛtvā mahat… soḍhuṃ na śakṣyanti", "having done great harm, they will not be able to bear" — Dhritarashtra perceives the law of retribution: those who inflicted grievous injury will not withstand the answering blow. It is telling that he asks what the instigators plotted "evaṃ gate api", even with matters so turned: obstinacy in wrongdoing does not retreat even before manifest ruin. The verse teaches that one who has done great evil should not hope to withstand its return; and that the blinded go on scheming even when the outcome has already been sealed by their own deeds.