Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
उद्धर्तयन् दस्युसड्घान् समेतान् प्रवर्तयन् युगमन्यद् युगान्ते । यदा थक्ष्याम्यग्निवत् कौरवेयां- स्तदा तप्ता धृतराष्ट्र: सपुत्र:
sañjaya uvāca |
uddhartayan dasyu-saṅghān sametān pravartayan yugam anyad yugānte |
yadā thakṣyāmy agnivat kauraveyāṁs tadā taptā dhṛtarāṣṭraḥ sa-putraḥ ||
Sañjaya said: “When, at the end of an age, I rise up to destroy these assembled bands of marauders and to set in motion another age—when, blazing like fire, I begin to consume the Kauravas—then Dhṛtarāṣṭra, together with his sons, will be scorched by anguish.”
संजय उवाच
The verse underscores the moral law of consequence: when rulers tolerate or align with lawlessness (dasyu-like conduct), the resulting violence returns as unbearable grief. Time (yugānta) is portrayed as an ethical force that brings adharma to ruin.
Sañjaya reports a fierce, prophetic declaration: at the turning of the age, the speaker will blaze like fire and destroy the Kauravas; at that moment Dhṛtarāṣṭra and his sons will suffer intense anguish. The imagery frames the coming war as a cataclysmic reckoning.