Shloka 11
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १२५: दुर्योधनस्य प्रत्युत्तरम्
Duryodhana’s Reply in the Kuru Assembly
कृतास्त्रै: क्षिप्रमस्यद्धिर्दूरपातिभिरायसा: । अभिल क्ष्यै्निपात्यन्ते तावच्छाम्यतु वैशसम्
Vaiśampāyana uvāca — kṛtāstraiḥ kṣipram asyaddhir dūrapātibhir āyasāḥ | abhilakṣyai nipātyante tāvac chāmyatu vaiśasam ||
Vaiśampāyana dit : «Tant que les traits de fer—décochés promptement par des guerriers accomplis dans la science des armes et capables de porter loin—n’ont pas encore commencé à abattre leurs cibles, que soit retenue cette entreprise de violence. Jusqu’à l’instant où les archers experts feront tomber les hommes dès qu’ils paraîtront à la vue, il convient de renoncer à la seule pensée de la guerre.»
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse urges restraint: before the machinery of battle fully begins—when expert archers start felling men with swift, far-reaching iron arrows—one should still choose to calm the impulse toward slaughter and abandon the thought of war.
In Vaiśampāyana’s narration, the onset of battle is evoked through imagery of accomplished warriors and their deadly arrows. The line functions as a warning that once such forces are unleashed, violence escalates beyond easy control—hence the call to stop it beforehand.