Shloka 72
तत्र यो बलवान् कृष्ण जित्वा सो>त्ति तदामिषम् | एवमेव मनुष्येषु विशेषो नास्ति कश्चन,श्रीकृष्ण! उनमें जो बलवान होता है, वही उस मांसको खाता है, जिसके लिये कि उनमें लड़ाई हुई थी। यही दशा मनुष्योंकी है। इनमें कोई विशेषता नहीं है- इति श्रीमहाभारते उलद्योगपर्वणि भगवद्यानपर्वणि युधिष्ठिरकृतकृष्णप्रेरणे द्विसप्ततितमो&5ध्याय:
tatra yo balavān kṛṣṇa jitvā so ’tti tad āmiṣam | evam eva manuṣyeṣu viśeṣo nāsti kaścana, śrīkṛṣṇa |
“There, O Kṛṣṇa, whoever is strong—having conquered—he eats the meat for which they fought. Just so it is among human beings: there is no real distinction at all, O Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira draws a stark moral analogy: in contests driven by appetite and gain, the strong prevail and enjoy the spoils, while claims of higher ‘distinction’ among humans often collapse into the same power-logic. The verse critiques violence and self-interest as governing forces when dharma is ignored.
In the Udyoga Parva, amid tense negotiations before the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Kṛṣṇa with a sober, disenchanted observation about how conflicts end: victory goes to the stronger, who then takes the desired prize—here compared to meat fought over—suggesting that human quarrels frequently mirror brute struggle rather than principled conduct.