Shloka 2
Dambhodbhava, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and the Counsel to Abandon Hubris
Udyoga-parva 94
जीमूत इव घर्मान्ति सर्वा संश्रावयन् सभाम् | धृतराष्ट्रमभिप्रेक्ष्य समभाषत माधव:
jīmūta iva gharmānte sarvā saṁśrāvayan sabhām | dhṛtarāṣṭram abhiprekṣya samabhāṣata mādhavaḥ |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Janamejaya, when all the kings sat silent in the assembly, Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)—his voice deep like a kettledrum—looked toward Dhṛtarāṣṭra and began to speak, making the whole hall hear him, like a cloud thundering at the close of summer.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames righteous counsel as public, accountable speech: Kṛṣṇa addresses the king directly in the full assembly, implying that moral responsibility in governance must be faced openly, especially when decisions may lead to war.
In the Kuru court, the gathered kings fall silent. Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava) turns his gaze to Dhṛtarāṣṭra and begins a resonant address that the entire assembly can hear, compared to thunder at summer’s end—signaling a decisive intervention in the diplomatic crisis.