Shloka 21
“'जनार्दन! धृतराष्ट्रके सभी पुत्रोंको यह दृढ़ विश्वास है कि देवताओंसहित इन्द्र भी इस समय युद्धके द्वारा हमारी इस सेनाको परास्त नहीं कर सकते ।। तेष्वेवमुपपन्नेषु कामक्रोधानुवर्तिषु । समर्थमपि ते वाक्यमसमर्थ भविष्यति,“जो इस प्रकार निश्चय किये बैठे हैं और काम-क्रोधके ही पीछे चलनेवाले हैं, उनके प्रति आपका युक्तियुक्त एवं सार्थक वचन भी निरर्थक एवं असफल हो जायगा
vaiśampāyana uvāca | “janārdana! dhṛtarāṣṭrake sarve putrā idaṃ dṛḍhaṃ viśvasanti—devaiḥ saha indro ’pi etasmin samaye yuddhena asmākaṃ senāṃ na parājayituṃ śaknoti || teṣv evam upapanneṣu kāma-krodhānuvartiṣu samartham api te vākyaṃ asamarthaṃ bhaviṣyati ||”
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Janārdana, all the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra are firmly convinced of this: that even Indra, together with the gods, cannot at this time defeat our army by war. When people have settled into such a certainty and are driven only by desire and anger, even your well-reasoned and effective words will become ineffective—failing to bear fruit.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When people are ruled by desire and anger and have hardened their certainty, even sound counsel from a wise and well-intentioned speaker becomes ineffective. Ethical persuasion requires receptivity; without it, pride and passion block dharmic reasoning.
Vaiśampāyana describes the Kauravas’ overconfidence: they believe their forces are so strong that even Indra with the gods could not defeat them. Because they are driven by kāma and krodha, Kṛṣṇa’s rational, meaningful advice is predicted to fail to change their course.