स तु शोकेन चाविष्टो विमुखः पुत्रवत्सलः ॥
शाश्वतं धर्मम् उत्सृज्य गुरुः शिष्येण घातितः ॥
न्यस्तशस्त्रम् अधर्मेण घातयित्वा गुरुं भवान् ॥
रक्षत्व् इदानीं सामात्यो यदि शक्नोषि पार्षतम् ॥
ग्रस्तम् आचार्यपुत्रेण क्रुद्धेन हतबन्धुना ॥
सर्वे वयं परित्रातुं न शक्ष्यामो ऽद्य पार्षतम् ॥
sa tu śokena cāviṣṭo vimukhaḥ putravatsalaḥ ||
śāśvataṃ dharmam utsṛjya guruḥ śiṣyeṇa ghātitaḥ ||
nyastaśastram adharmeṇa ghātayitvā guruṃ bhavān ||
rakṣatv idānīṃ sāmātyo yadi śaknoṣi pārṣatam ||
grastam ācāryaputreṇa kruddhena hatabandhunā ||
sarve vayaṃ paritrātuṃ na śakṣyāmo 'dya pārṣatam ||
"'He, overwhelmed with grief, turned away, tenderly loving of his son -- casting aside the eternal dharma, the teacher was slain by his own disciple. Having unlawfully killed the teacher who had laid down his weapon, protect now, together with your counselors, the Parshata [Dhrishtadyumna], if you can. Seized by the enraged son of the Acharya, whose kinsman has been slain -- none of us shall be able to save the Parshata now.'"
bc60077175c1 · published Jul 19, 2026, 5:08:17 PM UTC
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Arjuna lays upon Yudhishthira the fruit of what was done: save Dhrishtadyumna now, if you can. The bitter foresight is telling -- "none of us shall be able to save him": an unjust act brings retribution that even those guilty of it have no power to avert. The verse teaches that the violation of dharma is followed by a reckoning beyond the control of those who transgressed it; whoever sows lawlessness is not afterward free to hold back its harvest -- it ripens by a law of its own.