Shloka 43

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization

Devanagari script

तत्रैषा परमा काष्ठा रौद्रकर्मक्षयोदया । यद्‌ वयं कौरवान्‌ हत्वा तानि राष्ट्राण्यवाप्रुम:,दूसरा पक्ष यह है कि हम कौरवोंको मारकर सारा राज्य अपने अधिकारमें कर लें; परंतु यह भयंकर क्रूरतापूर्ण कर्मकी पराकाष्ठा होगी (क्योंकि इस दशामें कितने ही निरपराध मनुष्योंका संहार करनेके पश्चात्‌ हमारी विजय होगी)

Transliteration

tatraiṣā paramā kāṣṭhā raudrakarmakṣayodayā | yad vayaṃ kauravān hatvā tāni rāṣṭrāṇy avāprumaḥ ||

Translation

„Doch in dieser Sache wäre dies das äußerste Extrem—der schreckliche Gipfel und das vermeintliche ‚Gelingen‘ einer grausamen Tat: dass wir die Kauravas töten und dadurch jene Reiche erlangen. Ein solcher Sieg wäre um den Preis entsetzlicher Gewalt erkauft, denn er käme erst nach dem Schlachten vieler, die in Wahrheit nicht schuld sind.“

Word by Word

• {'tatra': 'there

• in that matter/context', 'eṣā': 'this (feminine demonstrative, referring to a course of action)', 'paramā': 'supreme

• utmost', 'kāṣṭhā': 'limit

• climax', 'raudra': 'fierce

• cruel', 'karma': 'act

• deed', 'kṣaya': 'destruction

• wasting away', 'udaya': 'rise

• outcome (often ‘success’ or ‘gain’)', 'yad': 'that which

• namely that', 'vayam': 'we', 'kauravān': 'the Kauravas (sons/party of Kuru, esp. Duryodhana’s side)', 'hatvā': 'having slain

• after killing', 'tāni': 'those', 'rāṣṭrāṇi': 'kingdoms

• dominions', 'avāprumaḥ': 'we would obtain/attain (1st person plural, optative/conditional sense)'}

Speaker

युधिछिर उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yudhiṣṭhira
• Kauravas
• rāṣṭrāṇi (kingdoms/realms)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Yudhiṣṭhira frames victory gained by killing one’s own kin as a moral ‘extreme’: even if it yields kingdoms, it is the dreadful fruition of cruel action, because the path to such gain entails widespread, often undeserved, destruction.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Yudhiṣṭhira reflects on the prospect of war with the Kauravas and rejects the idea of securing sovereignty through their slaughter, emphasizing the ethical cost and collateral killing that would accompany such a victory.