Shloka 6
स्त्रीपर्व — नवमोऽध्यायः | Dhṛtarāṣṭra summons the Kuru women; the city departs in collective lamentation
याच्यमानेन सततं तव पुत्रेण भारत | घातिता पृथिवी सर्वा वैरस्यान्तं विधित्सता,भारत! आपके पुत्रसे सब लोगोंने सदा शान्तिके लिये याचना की, तो भी उसने वैरका अन्त करनेकी इच्छासे सारे भूमण्डलका विनाश करा दिया
yācyamānena satataṃ tava putreṇa bhārata | ghātitā pṛthivī sarvā vairasyāntaṃ vidhitsatā ||
Sañjaya said: O Bhārata, though your son was continually entreated for peace, he—intent on bringing the feud to its ‘end’—caused the destruction of the whole earth. The verse underscores the moral tragedy of refusing reconciliation: when pride and vengeance override counsel, the cost is borne not only by rivals but by the entire world.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Persistent refusal of peace, driven by pride and vengeance, turns a solvable conflict into a catastrophe. The ‘end of enmity’ achieved through violence is ethically hollow, because it destroys the wider world along with the enemy.
In the aftermath of the war (Strī Parva’s lamentation context), Sañjaya reminds Dhṛtarāṣṭra that Duryodhana was repeatedly urged to accept peace, yet he chose hostility, thereby precipitating a war that devastated kings and peoples across the earth.