Shloka 6
भीष्मद्रोणयोर्दुर्योधनं प्रति शान्त्युपदेशः | Bhīṣma and Droṇa’s Counsel to Duryodhana for Pacification
आत्मानं च सहामात्यं॑ सपुत्रभ्रातृबान्धवम् । अहमित्यनया बुद्धया जीविताद् भ्रंशयिष्यसि,“साथ ही अपनी इस अहंकारयुक्त बुद्धिके कारण तुम पुत्र, भाई, बान्धवजन तथा मन्त्रियोंसहित अपने-आपको भी जीवनसे वंचित कर दोगे
ātmānaṃ ca sahāmātyaṃ saputrabhrātṛbāndhavam | aham ity anayā buddhyā jīvitād bhraṃśayiṣyasi ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: “With this self-centered notion of ‘I’—this ego-driven way of thinking—you will bring about the loss of life not only for yourself but also for your ministers, your sons, your brothers, and your kinsmen.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Ego-centered thinking (“aham”) blinds judgment and turns counsel into ruin, causing harm not only to oneself but also to dependents—family and ministers—thereby violating dharma through reckless self-assertion.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war counsel and warnings, the narrator Vaiśaṃpāyana reports an admonition that a leader’s stubborn ‘I’-sense will precipitate catastrophic loss of life for himself and those bound to him—ministers, sons, brothers, and relatives.