शकुनिं रभसं युद्धे कृतवैरं च भारत ॥
माद्रीपुत्रौ च संरब्धौ शरैर् अर्दयतां मृधे ॥
तन् मूलः स महाराज प्रावर्तत जनक्षयः ॥
त्वया संजनितो ऽत्यर्थं कर्णेन च विवर्धितः ॥
उद्धुक्षितश् च पुत्रेण तव क्रोधहुताशनः ॥
य इमां पृथिवीं राजन् दग्धुं सर्वां समुद्यतः ॥
śakuniṃ rabhasaṃ yuddhe kṛtavairaṃ ca bhārata ||
mādrīputrau ca saṃrabdhau śarair ardayatāṃ mṛdhe ||
tan mūlaḥ sa mahārāja prāvartata janakṣayaḥ ||
tvayā saṃjanito 'tyarthaṃ karṇena ca vivardhitaḥ ||
uddhukṣitaś ca putreṇa tava krodhahutāśanaḥ ||
ya imāṃ pṛthivīṃ rājan dagdhuṃ sarvāṃ samudyataḥ ||
Shakuni, impetuous in battle and who had stirred up enmity, o Bharata, and both sons of Madri, enraged, pressed him hard with arrows in battle. Rooted in him, o great king, this destruction of people began — engendered excessively by you, and increased by Karna, and fanned by your son, the fire of wrath-enmity, which, o king, is ready to burn this whole earth.
289f9740f2d6 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:52:56 PM UTC
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Here Sanjaya names directly those guilty of the carnage: 'tanmūlaḥ' — the root is in Shakuni, 'tvayā saṃjanitaḥ' — engendered by Dhritarashtra, 'karṇena vivardhitaḥ' — increased by Karna, 'uddhukṣitaḥ putreṇa' — fanned by Duryodhana. Four have kindled 'krodhahutāśanaḥ,' the fire of enmity, threatening to burn the earth. It is telling that in the thick of battle the narrator turns to accuse the blind king directly. The verse teaches us to name the true causes of disaster: universal slaughter is not fate but the fruit of human will — Shakuni's intrigues, the father's indulgence, Karna's incitement, the son's obstinacy; and honest history points not to destiny but to those whose passions kindled the fire.