Shloka 19
अध्याय ९ — कर्णस्य प्रहारः, योधयुग्मनियोजनम्, शैनेय-कैकेययोर्युद्धविन्यासः
पड़ोरिवाध्वगमनं दरिद्रस्पेव कामितम्
paḍor ivādhvagamanaṁ daridrasyeva kāmitam
قال دِهْرِتَرَاشْتْرَا: «إن هذا الزحف إلى الأمام كخطى المسافر المكدود يجرّ قدميه—وكشوق الفقير: مُكرَهٌ، مُؤلِمٌ، تدفعه الضرورة أكثر مما تدفعه البهجة.»
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how actions driven by compulsion, fear, or lack—rather than dharmic clarity—feel burdensome and joyless. It underscores the ethical cost of choices that lead to inevitable suffering, especially in war.
Dhṛtarāṣṭra, hearing of the war’s grim progress, expresses a heavy, anxious reaction. He compares the war’s onward movement to two painful forms of necessity: a weary traveler forced to keep walking and a poor man’s aching desire.