Shloka 42

Kaurava Mobilization at Kurukṣetra (Duryodhana Orders War Preparations) / कुरुक्षेत्रे धार्तराष्ट्र-सैन्यसज्जा

Devanagari script

मयापि हि महाबाहो त्वत्प्रियार्थ महाहवे

Transliteration

mayāpi hi mahābāho tvatpriyārthaṃ mahāhave |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana said: “O mighty-armed one, even I—foreseeing the likelihood of a great war—made a great effort to establish peace for the sake of what is dear to you. By that, we have also discharged our debt to dharma, and now even those who habitually point out others’ faults cannot credibly lay blame upon us.”

Word by Word

• {'mayā api': 'even by me

• I too', 'hi': 'indeed

• for', 'mahābāho': 'O mighty-armed one (vocative epithet)', 'tvat-priya-artham': 'for your dear interest

• to do what pleases/benefits you', 'mahāhave': 'in/with regard to the great battle

• amid the great conflict', 'mahān prayatnaḥ (implied by context)': 'great effort', 'śānti-sthāpana (contextual)': 'establishing peace

• peace-making', 'dharma-ṛṇa (contextual)': 'debt/obligation to righteousness and moral duty', 'doṣa-āropaṇa (contextual)': 'accusation

• imputing fault', 'doṣa-vaktṛ (contextual)': 'fault-finder

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Mahābāhu (epithet addressed to a Bharata prince)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Before resorting to war, one must sincerely attempt peace and thereby fulfill one’s obligation to dharma; having done so, one stands ethically protected against later accusations of needless violence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana explains that, anticipating a major conflict, he (in the narrative voice) undertook serious efforts to secure peace for the addressee’s benefit; this establishes that their side has acted responsibly and cannot fairly be blamed by critics.