Shloka 20
Nakula’s Adaptive Counsel to Kṛṣṇa in the Kuru Assembly (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ७८)
विराटनगरमें गोहरणके समय तुम्हारे अज्ञातवासका वर्ष पूरा हो चुका था। उस समय भीष्मजीने मार्ममें दुर्योधनसे याचना की कि तुम पाण्डवोंको उनका राज्य देकर उनसे मेल कर लो, परंतु यह कल्याण और हितकी बात भी उसने किसी प्रकार स्वीकार नहीं की ।।
virāṭanagare goharaṇakāle tava ajñātavāsasya varṣaṁ pūrṇaṁ babhūva. tadāpi bhīṣmaḥ duryodhanaṁ marmasthaṁ yācayāmāsa—pāṇḍavebhyo rājyaṁ dattvā taiḥ saha saṁdhiṁ kuru; kintu sa su-yodhanaḥ sādhv api hitakāriṇīṁ vācāṁ kathaṁcid api nāṅgīkṛtavān. tadaiva te parābhūtā yadā saṅkalpitās tvayā; lavaśaḥ kṣaṇaśaś cāpi na ca tuṣṭaḥ su-yodhanaḥ.
At the time of the cattle-raid at Virāṭa’s city, your year of living incognito had already been completed. Even then Bhīṣma, speaking from the heart, pleaded with Duryodhana: “Give the Pāṇḍavas their kingdom and make peace with them.” Yet he would not accept this wholesome and beneficial counsel in any way. Indeed, the Kauravas were already defeated the very moment you resolved to overcome them; and still Duryodhana is not satisfied with you even for an instant.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Wise counsel aimed at welfare (hita) and reconciliation should be accepted, especially by rulers; stubborn pride that rejects peace becomes a moral failure and hastens ruin.
Arjuna recalls that during the Virāṭa cattle-raid—after the Pāṇḍavas’ incognito year had ended—Bhīṣma urged Duryodhana to return the kingdom and make peace, but Duryodhana refused; Arjuna then asserts that the Kauravas were effectively defeated from the moment he resolved to overcome them, yet Duryodhana remains unappeased.