Shloka 16
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 73 — Kr̥ṣṇa’s Appraisal of Bhīma’s Altered Temper and Reaffirmation of Martial Resolve
सहजकश्नेदिमत्स्यानां प्रवीराणां वृषध्वज: । धारणभश्रन्द्रवत्सानां मुकुटानां विगाहन:
sahajakāś cedi-matsyānāṁ pravīrāṇāṁ vṛṣadhvajaḥ | dhāraṇo bhāśrāndravatsānāṁ mukuṭānāṁ vigāhanaḥ ||
Bhima dijo: «En las tierras de Cedi y Matsya surgió Sahaja; entre los Pravīra, Vṛṣadhvaja; en la (así llamada) estirpe Cāndravatsa, Dhāraṇa; y entre los Mukuṭa, Vigāhana. Así, como cuando el dharma es trastornado y el orden del mundo se estremece, se encienden fuerzas feroces y ruinosas, del mismo modo, al acercarse el fin de una era, aparecen kshatriyas degradados en diversos clanes—trayendo discordia y derrumbe moral, no protección.»
भीम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical decay as a social and political phenomenon: when dharma is disrupted, rulers who should protect society instead become sources of conflict. Genealogical listing is used to mark the spread of such ‘age-ending’ degeneration across many lineages.
Bhīma is speaking within the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war context, invoking examples of notorious or ruinous kṣatriyas said to arise in different clans during times of upheaval, thereby warning of widespread disorder and the consequences of adharma.