Shloka 8
अर्जुन-माहात्म्य-चिन्ता
Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s Appraisal of Arjuna’s Strategic Supremacy
वधे नूनं भवेच्छान्तिस्तयोर्वा फाल्गुनस्य च | नतु हन्तार्जुनस्यास्ति जेता चास्य न विद्यते
vadhe nūnaṃ bhavecchāntistayor vā phālgunasya ca | na tu hantārjunasya asti jetā cāsya na vidyate ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “Peace, it seems, will come only through death—either theirs or Phālguna’s. For there is no slayer of Arjuna, nor is there anyone who can truly conquer him.”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights a tragic ethical insight: when pride and hostility harden, leaders begin to imagine “peace” only through annihilation. Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s words expose fatalism and the failure of dharmic statecraft—peace is sought not through reconciliation and justice, but through the destruction of opponents, while Arjuna is portrayed as virtually unconquerable.
In Udyoga Parva, as negotiations collapse and war becomes imminent, Dhṛtarāṣṭra reflects on the conflict’s likely outcome. He suggests that calm will come only if one side is killed—either the opposing pair (implied adversaries) or Arjuna (Phālguna)—yet he immediately admits that no one can slay or defeat Arjuna, underscoring his anxiety about the coming war.