Shloka 33
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
यदा द्रष्टा बालमबालवीर्य द्विषच्चमूं मृत्युमिवोत्पतन्तम् । सौभद्रमिन्द्रप्रतिमं कृतास्त्र तदा युद्ध धार्तराष्ट्रोडन्वतप्स्यत्
sañjaya uvāca | yadā draṣṭā bālam abāla-vīryaṃ dviṣac-camūṃ mṛtyum ivotpatantam | saubhadram indra-pratimaṃ kṛtāstraṃ tadā yuddhe dhārtarāṣṭro 'nutapsyat ||
Sañjaya sprach: Wenn er Saubhadra erblickt—obwohl noch ein Knabe, doch mit einer Kraft, die dem Kindesalter nicht entspricht—wie er wie der Tod selbst auf das feindliche Heer zuspringt, und ihn sieht, Indra gleich an Macht und vollkommen in den Waffen geschult, dann wird inmitten des Krieges der Sohn Dhṛtarāṣṭras vor Reue brennen, weil er diesen Streit entfacht hat.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral causality in warfare: initiating unjust conflict brings inevitable consequences, including remorse when one confronts the suffering and formidable resistance that one’s own choices have unleashed.
Sañjaya foretells that when Duryodhana sees Abhimanyu—young in age but mighty and weapon-skilled—charging the enemy host like Death, Duryodhana will regret having set the war in motion.