Shloka 7
धृतराष्ट्रस्य मूर्च्छा स्त्रीणां च आर्तनादः
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Collapse and the Lament of the Palace Women
भवतां बाहुवीर्य हि समाश्रित्य मया युधि । पाण्डवेया: समाहूता युद्ध चेदं प्रवर्तितम्,“वीरो! आपलोगोंके बाहुबलका भरोसा करके मैंने युद्धके लिये पाण्डवोंको ललकारा है और यह युद्ध आरम्भ किया है
bhavatāṃ bāhuvīrya hi samāśritya mayā yudhi | pāṇḍaveyāḥ samāhūtā yuddha cedaṃ pravartitam ||
Sanjaya said: Relying on the strength of your mighty arms, I challenged the sons of Pāṇḍu on the battlefield and thus set this war in motion. The statement underscores how confidence in martial power becomes the immediate cause for escalating conflict, shifting responsibility from restraint and counsel to the momentum of violence.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights ethical causality in war: when leaders rely on sheer force and pride in martial strength, they more readily provoke opponents and trigger violence. It implicitly contrasts power-based confidence with dharmic restraint and accountability for initiating conflict.
Sanjaya reports that, trusting in the Kaurava side’s arm-strength and heroism, he (as narrator of events) describes how the Pāṇḍavas were challenged on the battlefield and how the war was thereby begun—framing the outbreak of fighting as a deliberate provocation grounded in confidence of strength.