Shloka 16
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 58 — Saṃjaya’s Audience and Kṛṣṇa’s Deterrent Counsel (संजय-प्रवेशः कृष्णवाक्यं च)
वाचं स वदतां श्रेष्ठो ह्वादिनीं वचनक्षमाम् | त्रासिनीं धार्तराष्ट्राणां मृदुपूर्वां सुदारुणाम्
vācaṃ sa vadatāṃ śreṣṭho hvādinīṃ vacanakṣamām | trāsinīṃ dhārtarāṣṭrāṇāṃ mṛdupūrvāṃ sudāruṇām
সঞ্জয় বললেন—বক্তাদের মধ্যে শ্রেষ্ঠ তিনি এমন বাক্য উচ্চারণ করলেন যা ছিল মধুর ও সুসংবদ্ধ, তবু ধৃতরাষ্ট্র-পুত্রদের জন্য ভীতিজনক; শুরুতে কোমল, শেষে নির্মম কঠোর—সত্যকে ছেদন করে প্রকাশকারী।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ethical speech can be both courteous and forceful: one may begin gently to maintain decorum and receptivity, yet speak with firm severity when confronting adharma. The verse praises disciplined rhetoric—pleasant in form, truthful and even fear-inducing in its moral consequence.
Sañjaya describes a principal speaker (contextually, a leading counselor or envoy in the Udyoga Parva’s negotiations) delivering a carefully crafted address: pleasing and articulate, but alarming to the Dhārtarāṣṭras because it exposes their peril and wrongdoing, moving from soft opening to stern admonition.