Shloka 21
कृष्णेन विदुरं प्रति आगमन-हेतु-निवेदनम् / Krishna explains the purpose of his coming to Vidura
“'जनार्दन! धृतराष्ट्रके सभी पुत्रोंको यह दृढ़ विश्वास है कि देवताओंसहित इन्द्र भी इस समय युद्धके द्वारा हमारी इस सेनाको परास्त नहीं कर सकते ।।
vaiśampāyana uvāca | “janārdana! dhṛtarāṣṭrake sarve putrā idaṃ dṛḍhaṃ viśvasanti—devaiḥ saha indro ’pi etasmin samaye yuddhena asmākaṃ senāṃ na parājayituṃ śaknoti || teṣv evam upapanneṣu kāma-krodhānuvartiṣu samartham api te vākyaṃ asamarthaṃ bhaviṣyati ||”
Vaiśampāyana sprach: „O Janārdana, alle Söhne Dhṛtarāṣṭras sind fest davon überzeugt: Selbst Indra vermag, zusammen mit den Göttern, in dieser Stunde unser Heer nicht durch Krieg zu besiegen. Wenn Menschen sich in eine solche Gewissheit verkrampfen und nur noch Begierde und Zorn folgen, dann wird selbst dein wohlbegründetes und wirkmächtiges Wort unwirksam werden — ohne Frucht.“
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When people are ruled by desire and anger and have hardened their certainty, even sound counsel from a wise and well-intentioned speaker becomes ineffective. Ethical persuasion requires receptivity; without it, pride and passion block dharmic reasoning.
Vaiśampāyana describes the Kauravas’ overconfidence: they believe their forces are so strong that even Indra with the gods could not defeat them. Because they are driven by kāma and krodha, Kṛṣṇa’s rational, meaningful advice is predicted to fail to change their course.