Shloka 31
Dambhodbhava, Nara-Nārāyaṇa, and the Counsel to Abandon Hubris
Udyoga-parva 94
न पश्येम कुरून् सर्वान् पाण्डवांश्वैव संयुगे । क्षीणानुभयत: शूरान् रथिनो रथिभिहंतान्
vaiśampāyana uvāca | na paśyema kurūn sarvān pāṇḍavāṁś caiva saṁyuge | kṣīṇān ubhayataḥ śūrān rathino rathibhir hatān ||
युद्ध के परिणाम पर विचार करने से हमें न कौरवों का और न पाण्डवों का ही अखण्ड रहना दिखता है। दोनों पक्षों के वीर रथी रथियों के हाथों मारे जाकर क्षीण होते-होते नष्ट हो जाएंगे, और रणभूमि अपने श्रेष्ठ पुरुषों से रिक्त हो जाएगी।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral and human cost of war: even when fought by renowned heroes, conflict consumes both sides. It frames the coming battle as a mutual ruin, warning that victory purchased through widespread destruction is ethically fraught and spiritually sobering.
In Udyoga Parva, as the war becomes unavoidable, the narrator Vaiśampāyana conveys a grim foresight: in the impending saṁyuga, the leading chariot-warriors of both the Kauravas and the Pāṇḍavas will be slain by their counterparts, leaving both factions devastated.