Shloka 126
वासवी-शक्तेः प्रयोगः, घटोत्कच-वधोत्तर-शोकः, व्यासोपदेशश्च
The Vāsavī Spear’s Use, Post-Ghaṭotkaca Grief, and Vyāsa’s Counsel
एवमुक्तो ययौ शीघ्र पुत्रेण तव सौबल: । पिप्रीषुस्ते सुतान् राजन् दिधक्षुश्रवैव पाण्डवान्,राजन! आपके पुत्रके ऐसा कहनेपर सुबलपुत्र शकुनि आपके पुत्रोंको प्रसन्न करने तथा पाण्डवोंको दग्ध कर डालनेकी इच्छासे शीघ्र ही युद्धँके लिये चल दिया
evam ukto yayau śīghraṁ putreṇa tava saubalaḥ | piprīṣus te sutān rājan didhakṣuś caiva pāṇḍavān ||
Sañjaya said: Thus addressed by your son, Śakuni—the son of Subala—set out swiftly for battle, intent on pleasing your sons, O King, and desiring to burn down the Pāṇḍavas. The verse underscores how counsel driven by partiality and malice turns strategy into moral ruin, intensifying the war’s destructive course.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how actions motivated by pleasing one’s faction (partiality) and harming rivals (malice) deepen adharma and accelerate collective destruction; strategic movement becomes ethically tainted when driven by the intent to 'burn' the other side.
After being addressed by Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son, Śakuni (Saubala) quickly departs for the battlefield, aiming to gratify the Kauravas and to bring ruin upon the Pāṇḍavas.