Shloka 96
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १२५: दुर्योधनस्य प्रत्युत्तरम्
Duryodhana’s Reply in the Kuru Assembly
गार्ध्रपत्रा: पतन्त्युग्रास्तावच्छाम्यतु वैशसम् । “जबतक इन भूमिपालोंके सुकुमार शरीरोंपर गीधकी पाँखोंसे युक्त भयंकर बाण नहीं गिर रहे हैं, तभीतक युद्धका संकल्प शान्त हो जाय
gārdhrapatrāḥ patanty ugrās tāvac chāmyatu vaiśasam |
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Que se apacigüe la resolución de matar—al menos hasta que esas terribles flechas, emplumadas con plumas de buitre, empiecen a caer sobre los tiernos cuerpos de estos reyes. Mientras tal violencia no haya comenzado, que prevalezca la contención».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges de-escalation: before violence becomes irreversible—symbolized by arrows already falling—one should pacify the impulse toward slaughter and choose restraint.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war setting, the narrator frames a moment of counsel: as long as battle has not physically begun (arrows have not yet rained down on kings), there remains a moral and practical opportunity to calm the war-fever.