Shloka 25
Duryodhana-vadha-pratikriyā: Harṣa, Nindā, and Kṛṣṇa’s Nīti-vyākhyā (Śalya-parva 60)
श्रीकृष्णने कहा--भैया! आप संसारमें क्रोधरहित, धर्मात्मा और निरन्तर धर्मपर अनुग्रह रखनेवाले सत्पुरुषके रूपमें विख्यात हैं; अत: शान्त हो जाइये, क्रोध न कीजिये ।। प्राप्त कलियुगं विद्धि प्रतिज्ञां पाण्डवस्य च । आनुृण्यं यातु वैरस्य प्रतिज्ञायाश्व॒ पाण्डव:,समझ लीजिये कि कलियुग आ गया। पाण्डुपुत्र भीमसेनकी प्रतिज्ञापर भी ध्यान दीजिये। आज पाण्डुकुमार भीम वैर और प्रतिज्ञाके ऋणसे मुक्त हो जायँ
śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca—bhrātaḥ! tvaṃ loke krodharahitaḥ dharmātmā ca satataṃ dharme ’nugrahavān satpuruṣa-rūpeṇa vikhyātaḥ; tasmāc chānto bhava, mā krodhaṃ kṛthāḥ. prāptaṃ kali-yugaṃ viddhi, pratijñāṃ pāṇḍavasya ca; ānṛṇyaṃ yātu vairasya pratijñāyāś ca pāṇḍavaḥ.
Śrī Kṛṣṇa said: “Brother, you are renowned in the world as a righteous man—free from anger and ever inclined to uphold dharma. Therefore be calm; do not give way to wrath. Know that the time has come that resembles Kali-yuga; and keep in mind the Pāṇḍava’s vow as well. Today let the Pāṇḍava be released from the debt of enmity and from the burden of his pledge.”
श्रीकृष्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
Kṛṣṇa urges restraint and composure as marks of a dharmic person, even amid the brutal pressures of war. He frames the moment as ‘Kali-like’—a time when passions flare and norms erode—yet insists that one should still act with awareness of dharma and with disciplined purpose, especially regarding solemn vows.
In the midst of the climactic fighting of Śalya Parva, Kṛṣṇa addresses a close ally as ‘brother,’ asking him to abandon anger and remain steady. He then points to the Pāṇḍava’s vow—understood in context as Bhīma’s pledge connected to the feud—saying that the time has come for that vow to be completed and for the long-standing debt of enmity to be discharged.