Shloka 3
धृतराष्ट्रस्य बलाबलचिन्ता
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Strength and Preference for Śama
बलाबल विनिश्ित्य याथातथ्येन बुद्धिमान् (यदा तु मेने भूयिष्ठं तद्भबाद्यो गुणदोषत: । पुनरेव कुरूणां च पाण्डवानां च बुद्धिमान् ।। ) शक्ति संख्यातुमारेभे तदा वै मनुजाधिप:
balābala-viniścitya yāthātathyena buddhimān (yadā tu mene bhūyiṣṭhaṃ tad bhavādyo guṇa-doṣataḥ | punar eva kurūṇāṃ ca pāṇḍavānāṃ ca buddhimān ||) śaktiṃ saṅkhyātum ārebhe tadā vai manujādhipaḥ |
বল-অবল বাস্তবভাবে নির্ণয় করে সেই বুদ্ধিমান মানবাধিপ—যখন গুণ-দোষের বিচারে স্থির করল কোন পক্ষ অধিক শ্রেষ্ঠ—তখন সে আবার কৌরব ও পাণ্ডব উভয়ের শক্তি গণনা করতে আরম্ভ করল।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights prudent leadership: decisions should be grounded in factual assessment (yāthātathya) and ethical evaluation (guṇa-doṣa), not in impulse. Wisdom involves weighing both capability (śakti, bala) and moral qualities before acting.
The narrator describes a king (manujādhipa) who, after judging relative strengths and weaknesses and considering the merits and faults of the two sides, again undertakes a concrete reckoning of the military power of the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas.