Shloka 12
Aśvatthāmā’s Buddhi-Doctrine and Nocturnal Incursion Resolve (अश्वत्थाम्नः बुद्धिविचारः सौप्तिकसंकल्पश्च)
व्यसनं वा महाघोरं समृद्धि चापि तादृशीम् । अवाप्य पुरुषो भोज कुरुते बुद्धिवैकृतम्
vyasanaṃ vā mahāghoraṃ samṛddhiṃ cāpi tādṛśīm | avāpya puruṣo bhoja kurute buddhivaikṛtam ||
हे भोज! मनुष्य जेव्हा अत्यंत घोर संकटात सापडतो किंवा तशीच महान समृद्धी प्राप्त करतो, तेव्हा त्या संकट वा समृद्धीमुळे त्याची बुद्धी विकृत होते—संकटाने शोक आणि समृद्धीने हर्ष उत्पन्न होतो.
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Extreme misfortune and extreme prosperity both disturb discernment: calamity tends to generate grief and prosperity tends to generate elation, and these emotional surges can warp judgment.
Sañjaya addresses “Bhoja” and comments on how human intellect becomes unsettled when confronted with severe crisis or great success—an observation that frames the emotional and moral turbulence surrounding the events of the Sauptika Parva.