Shloka 11
Nakula’s Adaptive Counsel to Kṛṣṇa in the Kuru Assembly (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ७८)
भरतनन्दन! धर्मराज युधिष्ठिरने केवल पाँच गाँवोंको माँगनेके लिये जो आज्ञा दी है तथा नम्रतापूर्ण वचनोंमें जो संधिका प्रयोजन बताया है
bharatanandana! dharmarāja yudhiṣṭhireṇa kevalaṃ pañca grāmān yācitum adya yā ājñā dattā, tathā namratāpūrṇaiḥ vacobhiḥ sandheḥ prayojanaṃ yat pratipāditaṃ, tat sarvaṃ duryodhanāya vaktum ucitaṃ na—iti me matiḥ; yataḥ sa kurukulakalaṅkaḥ pāpātmā tāḥ sarvāḥ kathāḥ kadācana na pratigrahiṣyati. asmākaṃ prastāvaṃ na pratigṛhṇan sa asmin jagati niścayenaiva vadhayogyo bhaviṣyati.
Arjuna said: “O descendant of Bharata! I judge it improper to convey to Duryodhana everything that King Yudhiṣṭhira has ordered today—namely, the request for merely five villages and the purpose of peace expressed in humble words. For that sinful man, a disgrace to the Kuru line, will never accept any of it. If he refuses our proposal, he will surely become deserving of death in this world.”
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
A peace offer, even when minimal and humbly framed, must be weighed against the opponent’s character and intentions; when reconciliation is impossible due to obstinate adharma, responsibility shifts toward protecting justice, even if that leads to righteous punishment.
Arjuna comments on Yudhiṣṭhira’s instruction to seek peace by asking only for five villages. He argues that telling Duryodhana the full, humble rationale is futile because Duryodhana will not accept it; refusal would make him liable to be slain as a consequence of his wrongdoing.