Mahabharata — Shalya Parva, Shloka 6
शल्यस्य सेनापत्याभ्युपगमः | Śalya’s Acceptance of Command
हेतुकारणसंयुक्त हितं वचनमुत्तमम् । उच्यमानं महाबाहो न मे विप्राग्रय रोचते,“महाबाहो! विप्रवर! आपने युक्ति और कारणोंसे सुसंगत, हितकारक एवं उत्तम बात कही है तो भी वह मुझे अच्छी नहीं लग रही है
hetukāraṇasaṃyuktaṃ hitaṃ vacanam uttamam | ucyamānaṃ mahābāho na me viprāgraya rocate ||
Sañjaya said: “O mighty-armed one, O foremost of Brahmins, though the counsel you speak is well-reasoned, grounded in causes, beneficial, and excellent, it does not please me.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Even advice that is logically sound and ethically beneficial may fail to persuade when the listener’s inner disposition, loyalties, or emotional commitments resist it; discernment involves recognizing this gap between reasoned counsel and acceptance.
Sañjaya reports a response to a Brahmin’s well-argued, welfare-oriented counsel: the addressee acknowledges its excellence and rational grounding but admits it is not agreeable to him, revealing tension between good advice and personal inclination amid the war narrative.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Mahabharata in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.