Shloka 4
वीर! इसी प्रकार अर्जुनने भी जो कुछ कहा है, वह भी आपने सुन ही लिया है। आपका जो अपना मत है, उसे भी आपने अनेक बार प्रकट किया है ।। सर्वमेतदतिक्रम्य श्रुत्वा परमतं भवान् | यत् प्राप्तकालं मन्येथास्तत् कुर्या: पुरुषोत्तम,परंतु पुरुषोत्तम! इन सब बातोंको पीछे छोड़कर और विपक्षियोंके मतको अच्छी तरह सुनकर आपको समयके अनुसार जो कर्तव्य उचित जान पड़े, वही कीजियेगा
vīra! evaṃvidham arjunena yad uktaṃ tad api bhavatā śrutam eva | bhavataḥ svamataṃ ca bahuśaḥ prakāśitam || sarvam etad atikramya śrutvā paramataṃ bhavān | yat prāptakālaṃ manyethās tat kuryāḥ puruṣottama ||
“O hero, you have already heard what Arjuna too has said, and you have repeatedly made your own view known. Yet, O best of men, setting all this aside and after carefully hearing the standpoint of the opposing side, do—according to the demands of the time—whatever you judge to be the right duty.”
नकुल उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse teaches disciplined judgment: even after hearing allies and stating one’s own stance, a leader should listen carefully to the opposing view and then act according to what is dharmically appropriate for the present time (prāptakāla), not merely from habit, pride, or factional bias.
Nakula addresses an honored decision-maker in the Udyoga Parva’s deliberative setting, noting that Arjuna’s counsel and the addressee’s own opinion have already been heard. He urges the addressee to set prior arguments aside, hear the opponents fully, and then choose the proper course of action suited to the moment.