Shloka 5
Bhīṣma Parva, Adhyāya 4 — Dhṛtarāṣṭra–Vyāsa Saṃvāda on Kāla and Jayalakṣaṇa
Signs of Victory
भौममैश्वर्यमिच्छन्तो न मृष्यन्ते परस्परम् । मन्ये बहुगुणा भूमिस्तन्ममाचक्ष्व संजय
bhaumaiśvaryam icchanto na mṛṣyante parasparam | manye bahuguṇā bhūmis tan mamācakṣva sañjaya ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Ansiando la soberanía y las riquezas de la tierra, no pueden soportarse unos a otros. Juzgo que esta tierra está dotada de muchas virtudes; por ello, Sañjaya, háblame de las cualidades de la tierra.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Desire for earthly sovereignty (bhaumaiśvarya) breeds mutual intolerance and conflict; the verse frames war as driven by attachment to land and power, and invites reflection on why the earth is so coveted—its ‘many qualities’ becoming the moral problem behind violence.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating to Janamejaya, reports a request addressed to Sañjaya: observing that rulers cannot tolerate one another because they seek dominion over the earth, the speaker asks Sañjaya to describe the earth’s qualities—why it is so desirable that men fight over it.