Shloka 87
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
अथ चेत् ते प्रवर्तन्ते मयि किज्चिदसाम्प्रतम् । निर्दहेयं कुरून् सर्वानिति मे धीयते मति:,यदि वे मेरे साथ थोड़ा-सा भी अनुचित बर्ताव करेंगे, तो मैं उन समस्त कौरवोंको जलाकर भस्म कर डालूँगा; यह मेरा निश्चित विचार है
atha cet te pravartante mayi kiñcid asāmpratam | nirdahēyaṃ kurūn sarvān iti me dhīyate matiḥ ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “If they behave toward me in even the slightest improper way, then I am resolved to burn all the Kurus to ashes—such is the firm determination that has arisen in my mind.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between restraint and righteous firmness: even a dharma-minded king can reach a point where persistent injustice provokes a decisive, punitive resolve. It frames anger not as mere impulse but as a boundary set against adharma—though its extremity also warns how quickly moral conflict can escalate toward total destruction.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations, Yudhiṣṭhira expresses a hardening stance: if the Kauravas commit even slight impropriety toward him, he is determined to annihilate them. The statement signals the breakdown of conciliation and the nearing inevitability of war.