Shloka 1

Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 73 — Kr̥ṣṇa’s Appraisal of Bhīma’s Altered Temper and Reaffirmation of Martial Resolve

Devanagari script

अपन बक। ] अत्णशाए<म चतु:ःसप्ततितमो< ध्याय: भीमसेनका शान्तिविषयक प्रस्ताव भीम उवाच यथा यथैव शान्ति: स्यात्‌ कुरूणां मधुसूदन । तथा तथैव भाषेथा मा सम युद्धेन भीषये:

Transliteration

bhīma uvāca | yathā yathaiva śāntiḥ syāt kurūṇāṃ madhusūdana | tathā tathaiva bhāṣethā mā sma yuddhena bhīṣayeḥ ||

Translation

Bhīma dit : «Madhusūdana, parle de telle sorte—et encore et encore—que la paix puisse réellement s’établir parmi les Kurus. Parle ainsi, et ne les effraie pas en évoquant la guerre.»

Word by Word

• {'bhīma uvāca': 'Bhima said', 'yathā yathā eva': 'in whatever way

• in the very manner that', 'śāntiḥ': 'peace

• cessation of hostility', 'syāt': 'may be

• might come to be (optative sense)', 'kurūṇām': 'of the Kurus

• of the Kuru people (Kauravas/Pandavas as the Kuru lineage)', 'madhusūdana': 'slayer of Madhu

• epithet of Kṛṣṇa', 'tathā tathā eva': 'in that very way

• accordingly', 'bhāṣethāḥ': 'you should speak (2nd person singular optative/benedictive)', 'mā sma': 'do not (emphatic prohibition)', 'yuddhena': 'by/with war

• by talk of war', 'bhīṣayeḥ': 'you should frighten/terrify (2nd person singular optative)'}

Speaker

भीम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīma (Bhīmasena)
• Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)
• Kurūḥ (the Kurus/Kuru lineage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhima urges responsible, peace-oriented speech: the envoy should choose words that maximize the chance of reconciliation and avoid needlessly provoking fear or escalation by emphasizing war.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations, Bhima addresses Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana), asking him to speak to the Kurus in a manner that can establish peace and not to intimidate them by bringing up war.