Shloka 19
Nakula’s Adaptive Counsel to Kṛṣṇa in the Kuru Assembly (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ७८)
कथं गोहरणे हाक्तो नैतच्छर्म तथा हितम् । याच्यमानो हि भीष्मेण संवत्सरगते5ध्वनि
kathaṃ goharaṇe hākto naitaccharma tathā hitam | yācyamāno hi bhīṣmeṇa saṃvatsaragato 'dhvani ||
ಅರ್ಜುನನು ಹೇಳಿದನು—ಗೋಹರಣದ ವಿಷಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಅವನು ಹೇಗೆ ಪ್ರೇರಿತನಾದ? ಇದು ಆಶ್ರಯವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಹಿತವೂ ಅಲ್ಲ. ಭೀಷ್ಮರು ಬೇಡಿಕೊಂಡರೂ ಅವನು ಈಗಾಗಲೇ ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷದ ದಾರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಹೊರಟವನಾಗಿದ್ದ.
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arjuna frames cattle-raiding as ethically suspect and strategically unwholesome: it is neither ‘śarma’ (a true refuge/peace) nor ‘hita’ (real benefit). Even respected elders like Bhīṣma urging restraint cannot justify actions that undermine dharma and worsen conflict.
Arjuna comments on a disputed episode involving goharaṇa (cattle-raiding) and notes that Bhīṣma was entreating someone to desist or act differently, yet the person had already set out on a journey associated with a year-long course (understood in context as exile/long-term consequence), highlighting the futility of late counsel and the moral cost of the act.