Shloka 6
Kṛṣṇa–Arjuna Saṃvāda in Indraprastha: Consolation, Legitimation, and Leave for Dvārakā (आश्वमेधिकपर्व, अध्याय १५)
तत्र युद्धकथाश्रित्रा: परिक्लेशांश्व पार्थिव । कथायोगे कथायोगे कथयामासतु: सदा,पृथ्वीनाथ! वे दोनों महात्मा पुरातन ऋषिप्रवर नर और नारायण थे तथा आपसमें बहुत प्रेम रखते थे। बातचीतके प्रसंगमें वे दोनों मित्र सदा देवताओं तथा ऋषियोंके वंशोंकी चर्चा करते थे और युद्धकी विचित्र कथाओं एवं क्लेशोंका वर्णन किया करते थे
tatra yuddhakathāśritrāḥ parikleśāṃś ca pārthiva | kathāyoge kathāyoge kathayāmāsatuḥ sadā pṛthvīnātha ||
There, O king, those two continually spoke—again and again as the occasion for conversation arose—of the many hardships bound up with accounts of war. In their friendly discourse, they would also recount the lineages of the gods and the seers, and describe the strange and varied episodes of battle and its sufferings, setting before the listener both the grandeur of ancient tradition and the moral weight of violence.
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the ethical gravity of war by foregrounding its ‘parikleśa’ (hardships) even when war is discussed as narrative. It suggests that remembering lineage and tradition should be accompanied by sober recollection of violence’s costs, not mere glorification.
Vaiśampāyana tells the king that, in that setting, two companions repeatedly engaged in conversation, often turning to accounts of war—its unusual episodes and the sufferings it brings—alongside discussions of the genealogies of gods and sages.