Mahabharata 7.184.8 — Drona Parva, Adhyaya 184, Shloka 8
यथा वराहस्य शुनश्च युध्यतो- स्तयोरभावे श्वपचस्य लाभ: । मन्ये विद्वन् वासुदेवस्य तद्धद् युद्धे लाभ: कर्णहैडिम्बयोर्व
śrīvāyudeva uvāca |
yathā varāhasya śunaś ca yudhyatoḥ tayor abhāve śvapacasya lābhaḥ |
manye vidvan vāsudevasya tadvat yuddhe lābhaḥ karṇa-ghaṭotkacayoḥ ||
വിദ്വാനേ! വരാഹവും ശുനകവും തമ്മിൽ പൊരുതുമ്പോൾ അവരിൽ ഒരുവൻ നശിച്ചാൽ ലാഭം ഒടുവിൽ ശ്വപചനു (ചണ്ഡാലന്) തന്നെയാകുന്നതുപോലെ, കർണ്ണനും ഘടോത്കചനുമിടയിലെ യുദ്ധത്തിൽ ലാഭം വാസുദേവനന്ദനൻ ശ്രീകൃഷ്ണനു തന്നെയെന്ന് ഞാൻ കരുതുന്നു.
श्रीवायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames a hard-edged wartime ethic: when two fierce combatants destroy each other or are diminished, a third party may gain. Vāyudeva interprets the Karṇa–Ghaṭotkaca clash as ultimately serving Kṛṣṇa’s strategic aim in the war, highlighting how outcomes can benefit someone beyond the immediate fighters.
Vāyudeva comments on the duel between Karṇa and Ghaṭotkaca. Using the analogy of a boar and a dog fighting—where an outcaste profits from whichever carcass results—he concludes that the true ‘profit’ of their battle accrues to Kṛṣṇa, whose side benefits from the weakening or removal of either formidable warrior.
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