Shloka 23
Udyoga Parva Adhyāya 58 — Saṃjaya’s Audience and Kṛṣṇa’s Deterrent Counsel (संजय-प्रवेशः कृष्णवाक्यं च)
अर्थास्त्यजत पात्रेभ्य: सुतान् प्राप्तुत कामजान् । प्रियं प्रियेभ्यश्षरत राजा हि त्वरते जये
arthās tyajata pātrebhyaḥ sutān prāptuṃ kāmajān | priyaṃ priyebhyaḥ śarat rājā hi tvarate jaye || tejo-mayaṃ durādharṣaṃ gāṇḍīvaṃ yasya kārmukam | mad-dvitīyena teneha vairaṃ vaḥ savyasācinā ||
Vāyu-deva sprach: „Gebt euren Reichtum den Würdigen hin und trachtet danach, Söhne zu erlangen, die aus rechtmäßigem Verlangen geboren sind; bietet das Liebe den Liebsten dar — denn ein König eilt dem Sieg entgegen. Doch hier habt ihr die Feindschaft mit Arjuna Savyasācin verschärft, dessen Bogen der strahlende, unbezwingbare Gāṇḍīva ist und dessen zweiter Beistand ich selbst bin. Darum kann, ohne die schuldigen Kauravas zu vernichten, die Last dieser Schuld nicht aus meinem Herzen weichen.“
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames kingship and conflict in ethical terms: wealth should be directed to worthy recipients, cherished duties should be honored, and wrongdoing—especially grave public injustice—creates a moral debt that demands rectification. Vāyu underscores that power allied with dharma (Arjuna with Gāṇḍīva and divine support) makes unjust enmity self-destructive.
Vāyu-deva speaks in the Udyoga Parva context of escalating war. He warns the Kaurava side that they have provoked Arjuna, whose martial strength is unmatched and who is supported by Vāyu. The accompanying narrative recollection points to the Draupadī humiliation in the Kaurava court and Kṛṣṇa being invoked as “Govinda,” presenting that outrage as a debt that cannot be eased without punishing the guilty.