Shloka 33
Adhyāya 41 — Kṛṣṇa’s Battlefield Briefing and the Renewal of the Great Engagement
दुर्योधनार्थे तव च प्रियार्थ यशोडर्थमात्मार्थमपीश्वरार्थम्
duryodhanārthe tava ca priyārthaṃ yaśodārtham ātmārtham apīśvarārtham
സഞ്ജയൻ പറഞ്ഞു—“ദുര്യോധനാർത്ഥവും, നിന്റെ പ്രിയാർത്ഥവും; യശസ്സിനായി, സ്വാർത്ഥത്തിനായി, അതുപോലെ ഈശ്വരാർത്ഥമെന്ന പേരിലും—(ഈ കർമ്മം ചെയ്യപ്പെടുന്നു).”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that human actions—especially in war—often arise from mixed motives: loyalty, personal attachment, desire for fame, self-benefit, and even appeals to divine purpose. Ethically, it cautions that invoking ‘higher’ reasons does not automatically purify underlying self-serving aims.
Sañjaya, narrating events to Dhṛtarāṣṭra, characterizes the driving purposes behind the Kaurava effort—centering Duryodhana and the king’s own attachments—while also noting the pursuit of glory and self-interest, and the tendency to frame the struggle as aligned with a higher will.