Shloka 14
Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)
विपरीत द्विषत्स्वेतत् षड्विधा वृद्धिरात्मन: । उस समय श्रीकृष्णने रोषसे भरे हुए बलरामजीको शान्त करते हुए-से कहा--“भैया! अपनी उन्नति छः: प्रकारकी होती है--अपनी वृद्धि, मित्रकी वृद्धि और मित्रके मित्रकी वृद्धि तथा शत्रुपक्षमें इसके विपरीत स्थिति अर्थात् शत्रुकी हानि, शत्रुके मित्रकी हानि तथा शत्रुके मित्रके मित्रकी हानि ।। आत्मन्यपि च मित्रे च विपरीतं यदा भवेत्
viparītaṁ dviṣatsu etat ṣaḍvidhā vṛddhir ātmanaḥ | ātmani api ca mitre ca viparītaṁ yadā bhavet |
Sañjaya said: “This is the sixfold measure of one’s own advancement: the increase of oneself, the increase of one’s ally, and the increase of an ally’s ally; and, on the enemy’s side, the reverse—namely the enemy’s loss, the loss of the enemy’s ally, and the loss of the ally of the enemy’s ally. And when the opposite occurs with respect to oneself and one’s ally… (the consequences are to be understood accordingly).”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Advantage and disadvantage are assessed relationally: true ‘growth’ is not only one’s own gain but also the strengthening of allies and allied networks; likewise, strategic success includes weakening the enemy and the enemy’s support structure. The verse frames prosperity and loss as a sixfold calculus tied to friendship and enmity.
Sañjaya narrates a moment where Kṛṣṇa, calming an angered Balarāma, articulates a principle of political-military prudence: how to evaluate outcomes in terms of gains for oneself and allies and corresponding losses for the opposing side.