Shloka 21
प्रसीद दुर्योधन शाम्य पाण्डवै- रल॑ विरोधेन धिगस्तु विग्रहम् । हतो गुरुब्रह्मसमो महास्त्रवित् तथैव भीष्मप्रमुखा महारथा:,तदनन्तर द्रोणकुमार अश्वत्थामाने दुर्योधनका हाथ अपने हाथसे दबाकर उसे सान्त्वना देते हुए कहा--'दुर्योधन! अब प्रसन्न हो जाओ। पाण्डवोंसे संधि कर लो। विरोधसे कोई लाभ नहीं है। आपसके इस झगड़ेको धिक्कार है! तुम्हारे गुरुदेव अस्त्रविद्याके महान् पण्डित थे। साक्षात् ब्रह्माजीके समान थे तो भी इस युद्धमें मारे गये। यही दशा भीष्म आदि महारथियोंकी भी हुई है
sañjaya uvāca | prasīda duryodhana śāmya pāṇḍavaiḥ, alaṃ virodhena dhig astu vigraham | hato guru-brahma-samo mahāstra-vit, tathaiva bhīṣma-pramukhā mahā-rathāḥ |
Sañjaya said: “Be calm, Duryodhana; make peace with the Pāṇḍavas. Enough of hostility—this quarrel is to be condemned. Your teacher, a master of the great weapons and equal to Brahmā himself, has been slain in this war; and the same fate has met the mighty chariot-warriors led by Bhīṣma.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges restraint and reconciliation: hostility brings no true gain, and even the greatest masters of arms fall in war. Ethical counsel here condemns needless conflict and points to the futility of pride-driven violence.
Sañjaya reports a counsel addressed to Duryodhana: he is asked to calm down and seek peace with the Pāṇḍavas, citing the deaths of the godlike teacher Droṇa and the foremost warriors such as Bhīṣma as evidence that the war is ruinous.