Kuntī’s Consolation to Draupadī and Lament for the Dispossessed Pandavas (सभा पर्व, अध्याय 70)
कि नु वक्ष्यति बीभत्सुरजितो युधि पाण्डव: । भीमसेनो यमौ चोभौ भृशं कौतूहलान्विता:
ki nu vakṣyati bībhatsur ajito yudhi pāṇḍavaḥ | bhīmaseno yamau cobhau bhṛśaṃ kautūhalānvitāḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : « Que déclarera donc Bībhatsu—Arjuna, le Pāṇḍava jamais vaincu au combat—comme avis réfléchi ? Et que diront Bhīmasena et les deux jumeaux ? » Les rois assemblés étaient saisis d’une ardente curiosité, désireux d’entendre le conseil qui tracerait la voie du dharma au seuil du conflit.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse highlights the ethical weight of counsel in a royal assembly: the Pāṇḍavas’ words—especially Arjuna’s, famed for both prowess and moral discernment—are awaited because speech and judgment (mati) can steer collective action toward or away from dharma, particularly when conflict looms.
Vaiśampāyana narrates that the gathered kings are intensely eager to hear what Arjuna will say, and also what Bhīma and the twin brothers (Nakula and Sahadeva) will state. Their anticipated responses are treated as consequential opinions in the unfolding deliberations of the assembly.