Dhritarashtra Sends the Pandavas Home

Verse 1 (2.95.1)

राजन्किं करवामस्ते प्रशाध्यस्मांस्त्वमीश्वरः । नित्यं हि स्थातुमिच्छामस्तव भारत शासने ॥

rājankiṃ karavāmaste praśādhyasmāṃstvamīśvaraḥ | nityaṃ hi sthātumicchāmastava bhārata śāsane

O king, what shall we do for you? Command us, for you are our lord. We wish always to remain under your rule, O Bharata.

Note on the text: Speaker heading corrected युधिष्ठर → युधिष्ठिर (misprint in Wikisource's heading).

Verse 2 (2.95.2)

अजातशत्रो भद्रं ते अरिष्टं स्वस्ति गच्छत । अनुज्ञाताः सहधनाः स्वराज्यमनुशासत ॥

ajātaśatro bhadraṃ te ariṣṭaṃ svasti gacchata | anujñātāḥ sahadhanāḥ svarājyamanuśāsata

Ajatashatru, may good fortune be yours. Go in safety and in peace, all of you. You have my leave: take your wealth with you and rule your own kingdom.

Verse 3 (2.95.3)

इदं चैवावबोद्धव्यं वृद्धस्य मम शासनम् । मया निगदितं सर्वं पथ्यं निःश्रेयसं परम् ॥

idaṃ caivāvaboddhavyaṃ vṛddhasya mama śāsanam | mayā nigaditaṃ sarvaṃ pathyaṃ niḥśreyasaṃ param

And take to heart this counsel of mine, an old man's: all that I have said is wholesome, and leads to the highest good.

Verse 4 (2.95.4)

वेत्थ त्वं तात धर्माणां गतिं सूक्ष्मां युधिष्ठिर । विनीतोऽसि महाप्राज्ञ वृद्धानां पर्युपासिता ॥

vettha tvaṃ tāta dharmāṇāṃ gatiṃ sūkṣmāṃ yudhiṣṭhira | vinīto'si mahāprājña vṛddhānāṃ paryupāsitā

You know, my son Yudhishthira, the subtle course of dharma. You are well schooled, O wise one, and you have long waited upon your elders.

Verse 5 (2.95.5)

यतो बुद्धिस्ततः शान्तिः प्रशमं गच्छ भारत । नादारुणि पतेच्छस्त्रं दारुण्येतन्निपात्यते ॥

yato buddhistataḥ śāntiḥ praśamaṃ gaccha bhārata | nādāruṇi patecchastraṃ dāruṇyetannipātyate

Where there is understanding, there is peace. Let your heart be calm, O Bharata. The blade does not fall where there is no wood; it is on wood that it is brought down.

Verse 6 (2.95.6)

न वैराण्यभिजानन्ति गुणान्पश्यन्ति नागुणान् । विरोधं नाधिगच्छन्ति ये त उत्तमपूरुषाः ॥

na vairāṇyabhijānanti guṇānpaśyanti nāguṇān | virodhaṃ nādhigacchanti ye ta uttamapūruṣāḥ

The best of men do not keep count of enmities. They look for virtues in others, not for faults, and they do not fall into hostility.

Verse 7 (2.95.7)

स्मरन्ति सुकृतान्येव न वैराणि कृतान्यपि । सन्तः परार्थं कुर्वाणा नावेक्षन्ति प्रतिक्रियाम् ॥

smaranti sukṛtānyeva na vairāṇi kṛtānyapi | santaḥ parārthaṃ kurvāṇā nāvekṣanti pratikriyām

The good remember only the kindnesses done to them, and not the wrongs, even when wrongs were done. They work for the good of others and do not look for anything in return.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's text as a verse: the second line is in its apparatus (passage 575*, after 2.65.6); the first line repeats the opening line of verse 10 below (2.65.9a).

Verse 8 (2.95.8)

संवादे परुषाण्याहुर्युधिष्ठिर नराधमाः । प्रत्याहुर्मध्यमास्त्वेतेऽनुक्ता नराधमाः ॥

saṃvāde paruṣāṇyāhuryudhiṣṭhira narādhamāḥ | pratyāhurmadhyamāstvete'nuktā narādhamāḥ

In a quarrel, Yudhishthira, it is the lowest of men who speak harsh words. The middling answer back; and those who speak harshly when nothing has been said to them are the vilest of all.

Note on the text: Corrected ऽनुक्ताः नराधमाः → ऽनुक्ता नराधमाः (misprint in Wikisource; visarga left standing before a nasal). The second line reads differently in the critical edition (pratyāhur madhyamās tv etān uktāḥ paruṣam uttaram).

Verse 9 (2.95.9)

न चोक्ता नैव चानुक्तास्त्वहिताः परुषा गिरः । प्रतिजल्पन्ति वै धीराः सदा तूत्तमपुरुषाः ॥

na coktā naiva cānuktāstvahitāḥ paruṣā giraḥ | pratijalpanti vai dhīrāḥ sadā tūttamapuruṣāḥ

But the steadfast, the best of men, never answer with hurtful and harsh words, whether or not such words have been spoken to them.

Verse 10 (2.95.10)

स्मरन्ति सुकृतान्येव न वैराणि कृतान्यपि । सन्तः प्रतिविजानन्तो लब्ध्वा प्रत्ययमात्मनः ॥

smaranti sukṛtānyeva na vairāṇi kṛtānyapi | santaḥ prativijānanto labdhvā pratyayamātmanaḥ

The good remember only kindnesses, not the wrongs done to them; secure in their own trust in themselves, they understand others truly.

Verse 11 (2.95.11)

असम्भिन्नार्यमर्यादाः साधवः प्रियदर्शनाः । तथा चरितमार्येण त्वयाऽस्मिन्सत्समागमे ॥

asambhinnāryamaryādāḥ sādhavaḥ priyadarśanāḥ | tathā caritamāryeṇa tvayā'sminsatsamāgame

The virtuous, whom it is a joy to behold, never break the bounds the noble have set. And so have you, a noble man, conducted yourself in this gathering of the good.

Note on the text: Corrected चरित्तंमार्येण → चरितमार्येण (misprint in Wikisource; as in the critical edition, tathācaritam āryeṇa). Half-lines are divided differently here from the critical edition: the first line is in the critical edition's apparatus (passage 576*, after 2.65.9); the second line is the first half of 2.65.10.

Verse 12 (2.95.12)

दुर्योधनस्य पारुष्यं तत्तात हृदि मा कृथाः । मातरं चैव गान्धारीं मां च त्वं गुणकाङ्क्षया ॥

duryodhanasya pāruṣyaṃ tattāta hṛdi mā kṛthāḥ | mātaraṃ caiva gāndhārīṃ māṃ ca tvaṃ guṇakāṅkṣayā

So, my son, do not keep Duryodhana's harshness in your heart. Out of your love of what is good, think of your mother Gandhari and of me —

Note on the text: Half-lines are divided differently here from the critical edition: this verse spans the second half of 2.65.10 and the first half of 2.65.11.

Verse 13 (2.95.13)

उपस्थितं वृद्धमन्धं पितरं पश्य भारत । प्रेक्षापूर्वं मया द्यूतमिदमासीदुपेक्षितम् ॥

upasthitaṃ vṛddhamandhaṃ pitaraṃ paśya bhārata | prekṣāpūrvaṃ mayā dyūtamidamāsīdupekṣitam

look upon your old, blind father standing here before you, O Bharata. It was with forethought that I allowed this game of dice to go on,

Note on the text: Half-lines are divided differently here from the critical edition: this verse spans the second half of 2.65.11 and the first half of 2.65.12.

Verse 14 (2.95.14)

मित्राणि द्रष्टुकामेन पुत्राणां च बलाबलम् । अशोच्याः कुरवो राजन्येषां त्वमनुशासिता ॥

mitrāṇi draṣṭukāmena putrāṇāṃ ca balābalam | aśocyāḥ kuravo rājanyeṣāṃ tvamanuśāsitā

for I wished to see who our friends were, and the strength and weakness of my sons. The Kurus need not be grieved for, O king, while you are the one who guides them,

Note on the text: Half-lines are divided differently here from the critical edition: this verse spans the second half of 2.65.12 and the first half of 2.65.13.

Verse 15 (2.95.15)

मन्त्री च विदुरो धीमान्सर्वशास्त्रविशारदः । त्वयि धर्मोऽर्जुने धैर्यं भीमसेने पराक्रमः ॥

mantrī ca viduro dhīmānsarvaśāstraviśāradaḥ | tvayi dharmo'rjune dhairyaṃ bhīmasene parākramaḥ

and while the wise Vidura, learned in every science, is their counsellor. In you there is dharma, in Arjuna steadfastness, in Bhimasena valour,

Note on the text: Half-lines are divided differently here from the critical edition: this verse spans the second half of 2.65.13 and the first half of 2.65.14.

Verse 16 (2.95.16)

शुद्धा च गुरुशुश्रूषा यमयोः पुरुषाग्र्ययोः । अजातशत्रो भद्रं ते खाण्डवप्रस्थमाविश । भ्रातृभिस्तेऽस्तु सौभ्रात्रं धर्मे ते धीयतां मनः ॥

śuddhā ca guruśuśrūṣā yamayoḥ puruṣāgryayoḥ | ajātaśatro bhadraṃ te khāṇḍavaprasthamāviśa | bhrātṛbhiste'stu saubhrātraṃ dharme te dhīyatāṃ manaḥ

and in the twins, foremost among men, pure devotion to their elders. Ajatashatru, may good fortune be yours: return to Khandavaprastha. May there be true brotherhood between you and your brothers, and may your mind stay fixed on dharma.

Note on the text: Corrected धीयताम मनः → धीयतां मनः (misprint in Wikisource; as in the critical edition, dhīyatāṃ manaḥ). Half-lines are divided differently here from the critical edition: this three-line verse spans the second half of 2.65.14 and the whole of 2.65.15.

Verse 17 (2.95.17)

इत्युक्तो भरतश्रेष्ठ धर्मराजो युधिष्ठिरः । कृत्वाऽऽर्यसमयं सर्वं प्रतस्थे भ्रातृभिः सह ॥

ityukto bharataśreṣṭha dharmarājo yudhiṣṭhiraḥ | kṛtvā''ryasamayaṃ sarvaṃ pratasthe bhrātṛbhiḥ saha

Thus addressed, O best of the Bharatas, Yudhishthira the King of Dharma observed every courtesy that the noble keep, and set out with his brothers.

Verse 18 (2.95.18)

ते रथान्मेघसङ्काशानास्थाय सह कृष्णया । प्रययुर्हृष्टमनस इन्द्रप्रस्थं पुरोत्तमम् ॥

te rathānmeghasaṅkāśānāsthāya saha kṛṣṇayā | prayayurhṛṣṭamanasa indraprasthaṃ purottamam

Mounting chariots that looked like clouds, they set out with Krishna, glad at heart, for Indraprastha, the finest of cities.