Shloka 7
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 148: Vāsudeva’s Report—Mobilization and the Nīti Sequence
Sāma–Bheda–Daṇḍa
यादवानां कुलकरो बलवान् वीर्यसम्मत: । अवमेने स तु क्षत्रं दर्पपूर्ण: सुमन्दधी:
yādavānāṃ kulakaro balavān vīryasammataḥ | avamene sa tu kṣatraṃ darpapūrṇaḥ sumandadhīḥ ||
Vāyu said: “He was the founder of the Yādava line, endowed with great strength and acknowledged for his prowess. Yet, with a dull understanding and swollen with pride, he went so far as to insult the entire order of kṣatriyas.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse contrasts outer excellence (strength, valor, lineage-founder status) with inner failure (dull judgment and pride). It warns that arrogance can corrupt even the mighty, leading to adharma expressed as contempt for others—here, the kṣatriya order.
Vāyu is describing a powerful progenitor of the Yādavas. Despite his recognized heroism, he became prideful and, in that arrogance, insulted the kṣatriyas as a whole—setting a moral frame for the consequences of hubris within royal/warrior culture.