Shloka 32
भीष्मरक्षण-प्रकरणम् / The Protective Screen around Bhīṣma and the Śalya–Yudhiṣṭhira Clash
इदं हि समनुप्राप्तं वर्षपूगाभिचिन्तितम् । पाण्डवानां ससैन्यानां वधो राज्यस्य चागम:,“आज वह अवसर प्राप्त हुआ है, जिसके लिये हम बहुत वर्षोंसे विचार करते आ रहे हैं। आज सेनासहित समस्त पाण्डवोंका वध तथा राज्यका लाभ होगा
idaṃ hi samanuprāptaṃ varṣa-pūgābhicintitam | pāṇḍavānāṃ sa-sainyānāṃ vadho rājyasya cāgamaḥ ||
“Inilah saat yang telah kita renungkan bertahun-tahun: hari ini Pāṇḍava beserta bala tentaranya akan dimusnahkan, dan kerajaan akan kita raih.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how prolonged strategizing driven by greed for power can normalize extreme violence. It implicitly invites ethical scrutiny: when the ‘gain of the kingdom’ is made dependent on the ‘slaying of the Pāṇḍavas with their armies,’ political success is pursued at the cost of dharma and human life.
Sañjaya reports a sentiment from the Kaurava side: they believe the long-planned opportunity has finally come to kill the Pāṇḍavas along with their forces and thereby secure the kingdom. It reflects the war’s escalation into a decisive, annihilative objective.