Shloka 11
Ārjava, Satya, and the Virocana–Sudhanvan Exemplum
Udyoga-parva 35
अतिवादं न प्रवदेन्न वादयेद् यो5नाहतः प्रतिहन्यान्न घातयेत् । हन्तुं च यो नेच्छति पापकं वै तस्मै देवा: स्पृहयन्त्यागताय
ativādaṁ na pravadet na vādayed yo 'nāhataḥ pratihanyān na ghātayet | hantuṁ ca yo necchati pāpakaṁ vai tasmai devāḥ spṛhayanty āgatāya ||
Haṃsa sprach: Man soll weder in maßlose noch in schmähende Rede verfallen und andere nicht zum Streit anstacheln. Wer nicht geschlagen wurde, soll nicht zurückschlagen und auch nicht bewirken, dass ein anderer geschlagen wird. Und selbst wenn er Unrecht erleidet: Wer den Schuldigen nicht töten will, ist in seiner Selbstzucht so rein, dass selbst die Götter seine Ankunft im Himmel herbeisehnen.
हंस उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches disciplined speech and disciplined force: do not indulge in harsh or excessive talk, do not provoke others into conflict, do not retaliate when unprovoked, and do not escalate violence by having others harm on your behalf. The highest restraint is refusing to kill even an offender, a virtue praised as heaven-worthy.
In Udyoga Parva, amid counsel and moral instruction before the great war, the speaker identified as Haṃsa delivers a didactic maxim. The focus is not battlefield tactics but the ethical ideal of restraint—especially relevant in a parva concerned with diplomacy, provocation, and the looming outbreak of violence.