Shloka 22
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
तृणप्रायं ज्वलनेनेव दग्धं ग्रामं यथा धार्तराष्ट्रानू समीक्ष्य । पकक्वं सस्य॑ वैद्युतेनेव दग्धं परासिक्तं विपुलं स्वं बलौघम्
sañjaya uvāca | tṛṇaprāyaṃ jvalanen eva dagdhaṃ grāmaṃ yathā dhārtarāṣṭrānū samīkṣya | pakvaṃ sasyaṃ vaidyuten eva dagdhaṃ parāsiktaṃ vipulaṃ svaṃ balaugham |
Sañjaya sprach: „Wenn Duryodhana die Söhne Dhṛtarāṣṭras sieht, von Bhīmasenas Zornesfeuer verbrannt wie ein Dorf aus Strohhütten, das die Flammen verzehren, und wenn er sein eigenes gewaltiges Heer zerstreut und zugrunde gerichtet erblickt wie reifes Korn, das der Blitz versengt—die vornehmsten Helden erschlagen, die Soldaten den Rücken kehrend und in Schrecken vom Schlachtfeld fliehend, Mut und Vermessenheit dahingeschwunden, alles zu Asche geworden im Brand der Waffen Bhīmas—dann wird ihn tiefe Reue überkommen, dass er den Krieg erwählt hat.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical weight of choosing war: pride and obstinacy lead to catastrophic loss, and only after witnessing ruin does the wrongdoer awaken to remorse. It warns that adharma-driven decisions bring predictable consequences—fear, collapse of morale, and irreversible destruction.
Sañjaya describes, in vivid similes, the future scene of Duryodhana seeing the Kauravas burned down by Bhīma’s fury and his own vast army scattered and destroyed like a ripe crop struck by lightning. The point is to foreshadow Duryodhana’s eventual regret for initiating and persisting in the conflict.