Shloka 24
राज्ञे तस्मै सदस्येभ्य: पार्थिवेभ्यश्व सर्वश: । भेदं सर्वविनाशं च कुरुपाण्डवयोस्तदा,उस समय गुरुदेव व्यासजीकी यह आज्ञा पाकर विप्रवर वैशम्पायनने राजा जनमेजय, सभासदगण तथा अन्य सब भूपालोंसे कौरव-पाण्डवोंमें जिस प्रकार फूट पड़ी और उनका सर्वनाश हुआ, वह सब पुरातन इतिहास कहना प्रारम्भ किया
rājñe tasmai sadasyebhyaḥ pārthivebhyaś ca sarvaśaḥ | bhedaṃ sarvavināśaṃ ca kurupāṇḍavayos tadā ||
To that king, to the assembled members of the court, and to all the other rulers present, the narrator began to relate the ancient history—how, at that time, a fatal division arose between the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas, and how that rupture led to their complete destruction.
व्यास उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse signals a moral lesson embedded in history: when a community—especially a family of rulers—falls into bheda (division) and abandons dharma-guided counsel, the outcome is sarvavināśa, ruin that consumes all sides, not merely the apparent losers.
The scene is the royal setting where the ancient account is being delivered to King Janamejaya and the assembled rulers. The narrator introduces the central subject: the split between the Kurus and the Pāṇḍavas and the chain of events leading to their catastrophic end.