Shloka 20

Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 137 — Bhīṣma–Droṇa Counsel and the Ethics of Restraint

Devanagari script

अलं युद्धेन राजेन्द्र सुह्ददां शूणु वारणम्‌ । ध्रुवं विनाशो युद्धे हि क्षत्रियाणां प्रदृश्यते

Transliteration

alaṁ yuddhena rājendra suhṛdāṁ śṛṇu vāraṇam | dhruvaṁ vināśo yuddhe hi kṣatriyāṇāṁ pradṛśyate ||

Translation

राजेन्द्र! इस युद्ध से तुम्हें कोई लाभ नहीं होगा। तुम्हारे हितैषी सुहृद् जो तुम्हें युद्ध से रोकते हैं, उनकी बात सुनो और मानो; क्योंकि युद्ध छिड़ जाने पर क्षत्रियों का विनाश निश्चय ही दिखाई देता है।

Word by Word

• {'alaṁ': 'enough

• let there be an end (to)', 'yuddhena': 'with/through war

• by war (instrumental of yuddha)', 'rājendra': 'O lord of kings

• O best among kings (vocative)', 'suhṛdām': 'of well-wishers, friends (genitive plural of suhṛd)', 'śṛṇu': 'hear

• listen (imperative of √śru)', 'vāraṇam': 'checking, restraint, prevention

• dissuasion (from √vṛ, ‘to restrain’)', 'dhruvam': 'certainly

• fixed, inevitable', 'vināśaḥ': 'destruction, ruin', 'yuddhe': 'in war (locative)', 'hi': 'indeed

• for', 'kṣatriyāṇām': 'of kṣatriyas/warrior-rulers (genitive plural)', 'pradṛśyate': 'is clearly seen

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• rājendra (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Heed the counsel of well-wishers and restrain the impulse toward war, because war predictably brings widespread and near-certain ruin—especially for the warrior class—making it ethically and pragmatically disastrous.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana, narrating the events of the Udyoga Parva, reports an admonition addressed to a king: abandon the path of war and accept the dissuasion offered by loyal friends, since the outbreak of war makes the destruction of kṣatriyas plainly inevitable.