Shloka 17
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 126 — Kṛṣṇa’s Indictment of Misrule and the Varuṇa Analogy (कृष्णवाक्यं–धर्मपाशदृष्टान्तः)
ते वयं वीरशयन प्राप्स्यामो यदि संयुगे । अप्रणम्यैव शत्रूणां न नस्तप्स्यन्ति माधव
te vayaṁ vīraśayanaṁ prāpsyāmo yadi saṁyuge | apraṇamyaiva śatrūṇāṁ na nas tapsyanti mādhava ||
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Mādhava, if in battle we attain the hero’s bed (that is, fall in combat) without ever bowing down before our enemies, then our kinsmen will not be tormented by shame or grief on our account.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse upholds a kṣatriya ideal: better to meet death in righteous battle than to preserve life through humiliation or submission to enemies, since such surrender brings lasting anguish and dishonor to one’s community.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, the speaker frames the coming conflict in terms of honor and collective consequence, asserting to Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa) that dying in battle without bowing to foes would spare their relatives the torment of disgrace.