Shloka 20
संयुक्ता: काममन्युभ्यां क्रोधहर्षासमञ्जसा: । न ते जयफलं किंचिद् भोक्तारो जातु कहिचित्,जो लोग कामना और खीझसे युक्त हो क्रोध और हर्षके कारण अपना संतुलन खो बैठते हैं, वे कभी कहीं किंचिनमात्र भी विजयका फल नहीं भोग सकते
saṁyuktāḥ kāma-manyubhyāṁ krodha-harṣāsamañjasāḥ | na te jaya-phalaṁ kiñcid bhoktāro jātu kvacit ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “Those who are driven by desire and resentment, and who lose their steadiness through anger and elation, are never—anywhere—able to enjoy even the slightest fruit of victory.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Victory becomes truly fruitful only for one who is inwardly disciplined. If a person is ruled by desire and resentment and swings between anger and elation, they lose discernment and stability, and thus cannot truly enjoy or sustain the gains of victory.
In Śānti Parva’s instruction-oriented setting, Yudhiṣṭhira articulates a moral observation about conduct and outcomes: uncontrolled passions—desire, resentment, anger, and excessive exhilaration—undermine the very benefits that victory is supposed to bring.