Shloka 42

Kaurava Mobilization at Kurukṣetra (Duryodhana Orders War Preparations) / कुरुक्षेत्रे धार्तराष्ट्र-सैन्यसज्जा

Devanagari script

मयापि हि महाबाहो त्वत्प्रियार्थ महाहवे

Transliteration

mayāpi hi mahābāho tvatpriyārthaṃ mahāhave |

Translation

বৈশম্পায়ন বললেন—হে মহাবাহু! মহাযুদ্ধের সম্ভাবনা আগেই দেখে তোমার প্রিয়ার্থে শান্তি স্থাপনের জন্য আমিও মহাপ্রয়াস করেছি। তাতে আমরা ধর্মের ঋণ থেকেও মুক্ত হয়েছি; অতএব যারা সর্বদা অন্যের দোষ খোঁজে, তারাও এখন আমাদের উপর দোষারোপ করতে পারে না।

Word by Word

• {'mayā api': 'even by me

• I too', 'hi': 'indeed

• for', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (vocative epithet)', 'tvat-priya-artham': 'for your dear interest

• to do what pleases/benefits you', 'mahāhave': 'in/with regard to the great battle

• amid the great conflict', 'mahān prayatnaḥ (implied by context)': 'great effort', 'śānti-sthāpana (contextual)': 'establishing peace

• peace-making', 'dharma-ṛṇa (contextual)': 'debt/obligation to righteousness and moral duty', 'doṣa-āropaṇa (contextual)': 'accusation

• imputing fault', 'doṣa-vaktṛ (contextual)': 'fault-finder

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Mahābāhu (epithet addressed to a Bharata prince)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Before resorting to war, one must sincerely attempt peace and thereby fulfill one’s obligation to dharma; having done so, one stands ethically protected against later accusations of needless violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana explains that, anticipating a major conflict, he (in the narrative voice) undertook serious efforts to secure peace for the addressee’s benefit; this establishes that their side has acted responsibly and cannot fairly be blamed by critics.