Shloka 37
“कमललोचन श्रीकृष्ण! शत्रुओंके साथ संधिकी इच्छासे आप जो-जो कार्य या प्रयत्न करें, उन सबमें दुःशासनके हाथोंसे खींचे हुए इन केशोंको याद रखें ।। यदि भीमार्जुनौ कृष्ण कृपणौ संधिकामुकौ । पिता मे योत्स्यते वृद्ध: सह पुत्रर्महारथै:
kamalalocana śrīkṛṣṇa! śatrūṇāṃ sārdhaṃ sandhi-icchayā bhavān yat yat kāryaṃ vā prayatnaṃ vā karoti, tat sarvaṃ duḥśāsanena hastābhyāṃ kṛṣṭān etān keśān anusmaratu. yadi bhīmārjunau kṛṣṇau kṛpaṇau sandhi-kāmukau, pitā me yotsyate vṛddhaḥ sa-putro mahā-rathaiḥ.
« Ô Śrī Kṛṣṇa aux yeux de lotus ! Si, par désir de paix avec les ennemis, tu entreprends quelque action ou quelque effort, alors, en tout cela, souviens-toi de ces mèches de cheveux traînées par les mains de Duḥśāsana. Si Bhīma et Arjuna, ô Kṛṣṇa, deviennent pusillanimes et avides de compromis, alors mon père, déjà âgé, ira au combat—avec ses fils—contre les grands guerriers de char. »
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Peace-making is not ethically neutral: any proposal of compromise must be weighed against grave injustice. The verse insists that reconciliation cannot erase dishonor and wrongdoing; memory of adharma becomes a moral check against a peace that would legitimize cruelty.
As negotiations for peace are contemplated, Kṛṣṇa is urged to remember the outrage done—symbolized by the hair dragged by Duḥśāsana—so that any diplomatic effort does not dilute the demand for justice. The speaker warns that if key warriors become inclined to compromise, even the elder generation would be forced into battle alongside their sons.