संजय उवाच
दुर्योधनस्य शकुनेर् मम दुःशासनस्य च ॥
रात्रौ रात्रौ भवत्य् एषा नित्यम् एव समर्थना ॥
श्वः सर्वसैन्यान् उत्सृज्य जहि कर्ण धनंजयम् ॥
प्रेष्यवत् पाण्डुपाञ्चालान् उपभोक्ष्यामहे ततः ॥
अथ वा निहते पार्थे पाण्डुष्व् अन्यतमं ततः ॥
स्थापयेद् युधि वार्ष्णेयस् तस्मात् कृष्णो निपात्यताम् ॥
कृष्णो हि मूलं पाण्डूनां पार्थः स्कन्ध इवोद्गतः ॥
शाखा इवेतरे पार्थाः पाञ्चालाः पत्रसंज्ञिताः ॥
saṃjaya uvāca
duryodhanasya śakuner mama duḥśāsanasya ca ||
rātrau rātrau bhavaty eṣā nityam eva samarthanā ||
śvaḥ sarvasainyān utsṛjya jahi karṇa dhanaṃjayam ||
preṣyavat pāṇḍupāñcālān upabhokṣyāmahe tataḥ ||
atha vā nihate pārthe pāṇḍuṣv anyatamaṃ tataḥ ||
sthāpayed yudhi vārṣṇeyas tasmāt kṛṣṇo nipātyatām ||
kṛṣṇo hi mūlaṃ pāṇḍūnāṃ pārthaḥ skandha ivodgataḥ ||
śākhā ivetare pārthāḥ pāñcālāḥ patrasaṃjñitāḥ ||
"With Duryodhana, Shakuni, with me and Duhshasana, night after night this was ever the same discussion: 'Tomorrow, having abandoned all our troops, slay, O Karna, Dhananjaya; the Pandavas and Panchalas we shall then keep in subjection like servants. Or else, if Partha is slain, then the Varshneya [Krishna] would install someone among the Pandavas [as king]; therefore let Krishna be brought down. For Krishna is the root of the Pandavas, Partha the trunk that has risen from it; the other Parthas are like the branches, the Panchalas are called the leaves.'"
bc46c476aaed · published Jul 19, 2026, 4:58:11 PM UTC
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Sanjaya lays bare the nightly schemes of the Kurus: the tree of the Pandavas with Krishna as its root. It is telling that even the enemies recognize this: everything rests on Krishna — cut the root and the tree falls. The verse teaches that even the unrighteous rightly perceive where their opponent's strength lies; but seeing the root is not the same as reaching it: Krishna is unconquerable, and the plan to cut him down is doomed — for the root of their own ruin lies in themselves, not in him.