Shloka 55
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
यदा द्रष्टा ज्यामुखाद् बाणसंघान् गाण्डीवमुक्तानापतत: शिताग्रान् । हयान् गजान् वर्मिणश्चाददानां- स्तदा युद्ध धार्तराष्ट्रोडन्वतप्स्यत्
sañjaya uvāca | yadā draṣṭā jyāmukhād bāṇasaṅghān gāṇḍīvamuktān āpatataḥ śitāgrān | hayān gajān varmiṇaś cādadānāṃs tadā yuddhe dhārtarāṣṭro 'nv-atapsyat ||
Sañjaya sprach: „Wenn er die Salven scharfspitziger Pfeile sieht, die von der Sehne des Gāṇḍīva gelöst herabstürzen und Pferde, Elefanten und gepanzerte Krieger dahinraffen, dann wird der Sohn Dhṛtarāṣṭras mitten im Kampf vor Reue brennen.“
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral accountability: initiating an unjust war (adharma) brings inevitable consequences, and recognition of wrongdoing often arrives only when suffering becomes undeniable. Power and pride cannot shield one from the ethical weight of one’s choices.
Sañjaya foretells the battlefield scene where Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva sends down deadly volleys. Seeing his forces—horses, elephants, and armored fighters—cut down, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son (Duryodhana) is predicted to be consumed by regret for having set the war in motion.