Shloka 39
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय ८१: कृष्णस्य दूतप्रयाणम्
Udyoga Parva, Chapter 81: Krishna Sets Out as Envoy
“मधुसूदन! मेरे पाँच महापराक्रमी पुत्र भी वीर अभिमन्युको प्रधान बनाकर कौरवोंके साथ संग्राम करेंगे ।। दुःशासनभुजं श्याम॑ संछिन्न॑ पांसुगुण्ठितम् । यद्य॒हं तु न पश्यामि का शान्ति्हदयस्य मे
madhusūdana! mama pañca mahāparākramī putrā api vīrā abhimanyum pradhānaṁ kṛtvā kauravaiḥ saha saṅgrāmaṁ kariṣyanti. duḥśāsana-bhujaṁ śyāmaṁ saṁchinnaṁ pāṁsu-guṇṭhitam; yady ahaṁ tu na paśyāmi kā śāntiḥ hṛdayasya me?
“O Madhusūdana! My five sons, mighty in valor, will also go to war against the Kauravas, placing the hero Abhimanyu at their head. But if I do not see Duḥśāsana’s arm—dark, severed, and smeared with dust—what peace can there be for my heart?”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how unresolved injustice fuels a demand for retribution: inner peace is portrayed as impossible until a grievous wrong (symbolized by Duḥśāsana’s arm) is answered. It also reflects the tension between the ideal of peace and the kṣatriya impulse toward punitive justice when adharma has been committed.
A speaker addresses Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana), declaring that his five powerful sons will fight the Kauravas with Abhimanyu as their leader. He then expresses a fierce vow-like sentiment: unless he witnesses Duḥśāsana’s arm severed and dust-covered, his heart will not find peace—evoking the memory of Duḥśāsana’s earlier outrage and the desire for decisive retaliation.