Shloka 473
Droṇa’s Conditional Boon: The Plan to Capture Yudhiṣṭhira (द्रोणेन युधिष्ठिरग्रहणोपायः)
पक्वानां हि वधे सूत वज्ायन्ते तृणान्युत । सूत! मेरे ही कारण यह कौरवोंका विनाश प्राप्त हुआ है। जो कालसे परिपक्व हो गये हैं, उनके वधके लिये तिनके भी वज्रका काम करते हैं
pakvānāṃ hi vadhe sūta vajrāyante tṛṇāny uta | sūta! mamaiva kāraṇāt idaṃ kauravāṇāṃ vināśaḥ prāptaḥ | ye kālena paripakvāḥ, teṣāṃ vadhe tṛṇāny api vajrasya kāryaṃ kurvanti |
Vaiśampāyana said: “O Sūta, when beings have ripened for death, even blades of grass become like thunderbolts for their destruction. Indeed, it is because of me that the ruin of the Kauravas has come about. For those whom Time has made fully ripe, even the slightest cause becomes an instrument of irresistible fate.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
When Time (Kāla) has made an outcome inevitable, even the smallest and seemingly harmless causes can become decisive instruments; this highlights the Mahābhārata’s view of fate operating through ordinary means, while still raising the moral weight of human agency and responsibility.
Vaiśampāyana addresses the Sūta and reflects on the Kauravas’ impending ruin, stating that their destruction has come to pass and that, once destiny has ripened, even trivial factors can bring about death—framing the war’s calamity as both fated and mediated through human actions.