Shloka 64
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
हविषाग्निर्यथा कृष्ण भूय एवाभिवर्धते | केशव! जैसे घी डालनेपर आग बुझनेके बजाय और अधिक प्रज्वलित हो उठती है, उसी प्रकार वैर करनेसे वैरकी आग शान्त नहीं होती, अधिकाधिक बढ़ती ही जाती है।। ६३ ई || अतोडन्यथा नास्ति शान्तिर्नित्यमन्तरमन्ततः
haviṣāgnir yathā kṛṣṇa bhūya evābhivardhate | keśava! yathā ghṛta-dānenāgnir na śāmyati, api tu bhūyaḥ prajvalati, tathā vairakaraṇena vaira-agniḥ na śāmyati, kintu adhikādhikaṃ vardhate || ato ’nyathā na asti śāntiḥ, nityam antaramantrataḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said to Krishna: “Just as fire, when fed with oblations—especially ghee—does not die down but flares up all the more, so too the fire of enmity is not quenched by acts of enmity; it only grows ever stronger. Therefore peace cannot be secured by that path; true calm must be sought through an inner turning—through counsel and restraint rather than retaliation.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Retaliation does not end hostility; like fire fed with ghee, enmity grows when answered with enmity. Peace is to be pursued through restraint and wise counsel rather than revenge.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war deliberations, Yudhishthira addresses Krishna (Keśava), arguing for a path toward peace: he warns that escalating reprisals only intensify the feud and urges an inwardly grounded, counsel-driven approach to reconciliation.