Shloka 18
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
यदा द्रष्टा भीमसेनेन नागान् निपातितान् गिरिकूटप्रकाशान् । कुम्भैरिवासृग्वमतो भिन्नकुम्भां- स्तदा युद्ध धार्तराष्ट्रोडन्वतप्स्यत्
sañjaya uvāca | yadā draṣṭā bhīmasenena nāgān nipātitān girikūṭaprakāśān | kumbhair ivāsṛg vamato bhinnakumbhāṁs tadā yuddhe dhārtarāṣṭro 'nvatapsyat ||
サンジャヤは言った。「ドゥルヨーダナが、山の峰のごとく巨大な猛象たちがビーマセーナに打ち倒され、こめかみを裂かれて血が砕けた壺から注がれるように噴き出すのを見たなら、その時、戦のただ中で、ドリタラーシュトラの子は、この争いを挑んだことへの灼けつく悔恨にとらわれるであろう。」
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores the moral weight of initiating unjust conflict: even the instigator may later be consumed by remorse when confronted with the real, gruesome consequences of war.
Sañjaya foretells a battlefield scene where Bhīma fells massive war-elephants, splitting their temples so blood streams out; seeing this carnage, Duryodhana (Dhārtarāṣṭra) is predicted to feel intense regret for having set the war in motion.