Shloka 136
शकुनिवधः — Sahadeva’s Slaying of Śakuni
with Ulūka’s fall
यावेतावास्थितौ कृष्ण तावद्य न भविष्यत: । भगवान् श्रीकृष्णके ऐसा कहनेपर अर्जुन उनसे इस प्रकार बोले--“माधव! धुृतराष्ट्रके प्राय: सभी पुत्र भीमसेनके हाथसे मारे गये हैं। श्रीकृष्ण! ये जो दो पुत्र खड़े हैं, इनका भी आज अन्त हो जायगा
yāvetāv āsthitau kṛṣṇa tāvadya na bhaviṣyataḥ |
Sañjaya said: “O Kṛṣṇa, so long as these two remain standing, they will not survive even today.” The line conveys the grim certainty of imminent death in the climactic violence of the war, where resolve and vengeance eclipse any remaining hope of reconciliation.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the inevitability that can arise once a conflict reaches its terminal phase: when warriors remain fixed in hostile resolve, the momentum of war makes survival unlikely. Ethically, it reflects how unchecked enmity and the logic of battle can harden into fatal certainty.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, addresses Kṛṣṇa and states that ‘these two’ who are still standing will not last even through the day—signaling an imminent killing in the ongoing battle sequence of the Śalya Parva.