Shloka 19
Śikhaṇḍinī’s Disclosure, Drupada’s Counsel, and the Petition to Yakṣa Sthūṇākarṇa
Udyoga Parva 192
द्वाभ्यामेव तु मासाभ्यां कृप: शारद्वतो5बवीत् । द्रौणिस्तु दशरात्रेण प्रतिजज्ञे बलक्षयम्
dvābhyām eva tu māsābhyāṃ kṛpaḥ śāradvato ’bravīt | drauṇis tu daśarātreṇa pratijajñe balakṣayam ||
Dijo Sañjaya: «Kṛpa, hijo de Śaradvat, declaró que en tan solo dos meses podía ser destruido el ejército de los Pāṇḍava. Pero Aśvatthāman, hijo de Droṇa, juró que en diez noches llevaría a la aniquilación la fuerza del enemigo».
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores how, in wartime, speech becomes a moral force: estimates and boasts can harden into vows (pratijñā), intensifying conflict. It invites reflection on restraint and responsibility—how confidence and ambition, when expressed as binding pledges, can accelerate violence and narrow ethical choices.
Sañjaya reports contrasting claims from two Kuru-side figures: Kṛpa predicts the Pāṇḍava army’s destruction in two months, while Aśvatthāman, more aggressively, vows to accomplish the enemy’s ruin within ten nights—signaling rising determination and the sharpening of war plans.