Shloka 9
मन्युस्तस्य कथं शाम्येन्मन्दान् प्रति य उत्थित: । निश्चय ही द्रोणाचार्य और कर्णका वध हो जानेपर हमारे पक्षके लोग शान्त हो जायूँगे अथवा अर्जुनके मारे जानेपर पाण्डव शान्त हो बैठेंगे, परंतु अर्जुनका वध करने-वाला तो कोई है ही नहीं, उन्हें जीतनेवाला भी संसारमें कोई नहीं है। मेरे मन्दबुद्धि पुत्रोंके प्रति उनके हृदयमें जो क्रोध जाग उठा है, वह कैसे शान्त होगा? ।। ८ है ।। अन्ये>प्यस्त्राणि जानन्ति जीयन्ते च जयन्ति च
dhṛtarāṣṭra uvāca | manyus tasya kathaṁ śāmyen mandān prati ya utthitaḥ | niścayaṁ hi droṇācārya-karṇayoḥ vadhe kṛte ’smat-pakṣyāḥ śāntā bhaveyuḥ, athavā ’rjune nihate pāṇḍavāḥ śāmyeyuḥ | kintu ’rjunasya vadhakartā kaścid eva nāsti, jetuṁ ca taṁ loke kaścid na śaknoti | mama manda-buddhi-putrān prati tasya hṛdaye yo manyur utthitaḥ sa kathaṁ praśāmyet ||
Dhṛtarāṣṭra said: “How can his wrath—aroused against my foolish sons—ever be appeased? It is certain that if Droṇa and Karṇa are slain, our side will be subdued; or, if Arjuna is killed, the Pāṇḍavas will sit down in quiet. But there is no one who can truly slay Arjuna, and no one in the world who can overcome him. So how will the anger that has risen in his heart toward my misguided sons be brought to rest?”
धृतराष्ट उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unchecked attachment and partiality distort judgment: Dhṛtarāṣṭra recognizes the moral and strategic peril created by his sons’ folly, yet frames the crisis in terms of fear and inevitability. It also underscores a dharmic warning—wrongdoing provokes enduring enmity (manyu), and power without righteousness cannot secure peace.
In Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and anxieties, Dhṛtarāṣṭra reflects on the coming conflict. He reasons that either the Kauravas will collapse if their great champions fall, or the Pāṇḍavas will be subdued only if Arjuna is killed—yet he believes Arjuna cannot be slain or conquered. Therefore he worries that the Pāṇḍavas’ anger against his sons will not be appeased.