Shloka 31
कृपोपदेशः — द्रौणेरनिद्रा च
Kṛpa’s Counsel and Drauṇi’s Sleepless Resolve
“मेरे जीते-जी जो यह मेरा मित्र-पक्ष परास्त हो गया, वह मेरे शोककी उसी प्रकार वृद्धि कर रहा है, जैसे जलका वेग समुद्रको बढ़ा देता है। आज मेरा मन एक ही कार्यकी ओर लगा हुआ है, फिर मुझे नींद कैसे आ सकती है और मुझे सुख भी कैसे मिल सकता है? ।।
me jīte-jī yo yaḥ mama mitra-pakṣaḥ parājito 'bhavat, sa mama śokasya tathā vṛddhiṃ karoti yathā jalavegaḥ samudraṃ vardhayati | adya mama mana ekasmin kārye eva lagnaṃ, tarhi me nidrā kathaṃ bhavet, sukhaṃ ca kathaṃ labheya? || vāsudevārjunābhyāṃ ca tān ahaṃ parirakṣitān | aviṣaṇṇān uttamān manye mahendreṇāpi sattama ||
Kṛpa said: “While I still live, the defeat of my own allied side only swells my grief—just as the rush of waters makes the ocean rise. Today my mind is fixed on a single task; how, then, could sleep come to me, and how could I find any peace? Those men, guarded by Vāsudeva and Arjuna, I deem unshaken and foremost—indeed, O best of men, as if protected even by Mahendra himself.”
कृप उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how attachment to one’s side in war magnifies sorrow after defeat, and how intense resolve toward a chosen act drives away sleep and comfort. It also underscores the ethical reality that morale and protection—especially under exemplary leaders like Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna—can make opponents seem invincible.
In the Sauptika Parva, after the catastrophic losses, Kṛpa speaks from the Kaurava camp. He laments the defeat of his allied party, compares his grief to an ocean swollen by rushing waters, and declares that his mind is fixed on a single course of action; he also remarks that those protected by Kṛṣṇa and Arjuna appear steadfast and unsurpassed.