Shloka 26
Adhyaya 60: Self-Assertion, Daiva, and the Rhetoric of Inevitability (उद्योग पर्व)
सरित: सागरं प्राप्य यथा नश्यन्ति सर्वश: । तथैव ते विनड्क्ष्यन्ति मामासाद्य सहान्वया:
saritaḥ sāgaraṁ prāpya yathā naśyanti sarvaśaḥ | tathaiva te vinaṅkṣyanti mām āsādya sahānvayāḥ ||
Waiśampāyana berkata: “Seperti sungai-sungai yang mencapai samudra lalu lenyap seluruhnya sebagai diri yang terpisah, demikian pula mereka—ketika mendatangiku—akan binasa bersama seluruh garis keturunan dan kaum kerabatnya.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a natural simile to express total loss of separate existence: as rivers merge into the ocean, so those who confront an overwhelmingly powerful force are said to meet complete ruin, even extending to their lineage—highlighting the ethical danger of arrogance and the rhetoric of annihilation in the lead-up to war.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and escalating hostility, a speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) conveys a boastful or threatening claim: that the opposing warriors (implicitly the Pāṇḍava side, as reflected in the received Hindi gloss) will be destroyed upon approaching ‘me,’ along with their families and line.