Shloka 12

भीष्मद्रोणयोर्दुर्योधनं प्रति शान्त्युपदेशः | Bhīṣma and Droṇa’s Counsel to Duryodhana for Pacification

Devanagari script

अनुतिष्ठ महाप्राज्ञ कृष्ण भीष्मौ यदूचतु: । (मा वचो लघुबुद्धीनां समास्थास्त्वं परंतप ।) माधवं बुद्धिमोहेन मावमंस्था: परंतप,“महामते! श्रीकृष्ण और भीष्मने जो कुछ कहा है, उसका पालन करो। परंतप! तुम तुच्छ बुद्धिवाले लोगोंकी बातपर आस्था मत रखो। शत्रुदमन! अपनी बुद्धिके मोहसे माधवका तिरस्कार न करो

Transliteration

anutisṭha mahāprajña kṛṣṇa bhīṣmau yad ūcatuḥ | mā vaco laghubuddhīnāṃ samāsthās tvaṃ paraṃtapa | mādhavaṃ buddhimohena māvamamsthāḥ paraṃtapa ||

Translation

Vaiśaṃpāyana berkata: “Wahai yang amat bijaksana, laksanakanlah apa yang telah dikatakan oleh Kṛṣṇa dan Bhīṣma. Wahai pembakar musuh, janganlah engkau menaruh kepercayaan pada kata-kata orang yang dangkal budi. Wahai penunduk lawan, jangan kerana kabut akal memperlekeh Mādhava.”

Word by Word

• {'anutisṭha': 'carry out

• implement', 'mahāprajña': 'one of great wisdom

• highly discerning person', 'kṛṣṇa': 'Kṛṣṇa (Vāsudeva), counselor and guide', 'bhīṣmau': 'Bhīṣma (dual form used with Kṛṣṇa here, ‘Kṛṣṇa and Bhīṣma’)', 'yad ūcatuḥ': 'what they said/spoke (dual, referring to the two speakers)', 'mā': 'do not (prohibitive particle)', 'vacaḥ': 'speech

• counsel', 'laghubuddhīnām': 'of petty/shallow intellects', 'samāsthāḥ': 'rely upon

• take as one’s support', 'paraṃtapa': 'scorcher of foes (epithet of a warrior-king)', 'mādhavam': 'Mādhava (Kṛṣṇa)', 'buddhimohena': 'by delusion/confusion of understanding', 'avamamsthāḥ': 'disrespect

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Kṛṣṇa
• Bhīṣma
• Mādhava

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sound action should follow the counsel of the truly wise and dharmic (here, Kṛṣṇa and Bhīṣma), not the talk of the shallow-minded; intellectual delusion leads to disrespecting worthy guidance, which harms right decision-making.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the tense pre-war deliberations of the Udyoga Parva, Vaiśaṃpāyana reports an admonition urging the addressee (a warrior leader) to heed the authoritative guidance of Kṛṣṇa and Bhīṣma and not be swayed by inferior counsel or personal confusion that would cause him to slight Kṛṣṇa (Mādhava).