Shloka 19
Nakula’s Adaptive Counsel to Kṛṣṇa in the Kuru Assembly (उद्योगपर्व, अध्याय ७८)
कथं गोहरणे हाक्तो नैतच्छर्म तथा हितम् । याच्यमानो हि भीष्मेण संवत्सरगते5ध्वनि
kathaṃ goharaṇe hākto naitaccharma tathā hitam | yācyamāno hi bhīṣmeṇa saṃvatsaragato 'dhvani ||
ਅਰਜੁਨ ਬੋਲਿਆ—ਗੋਹਰਨ ਦੇ ਮਾਮਲੇ ਵਿੱਚ ਉਹ ਕਿਵੇਂ ਉਕਸਾਇਆ ਗਿਆ? ਇਹ ਨਾ ਤਾਂ ਆਸਰਾ ਹੈ, ਨਾ ਹੀ ਹਿਤਕਾਰੀ। ਭੀਸ਼ਮ ਜੀ ਬੇਨਤੀ ਕਰਦੇ ਰਹੇ, ਪਰ ਉਹ ਤਾਂ ਜਿਵੇਂ ਇੱਕ ਸਾਲ ਦੇ ਰਾਹ ਉੱਤੇ ਨਿਕਲ ਪਿਆ ਸੀ।
अर्जुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Arjuna frames cattle-raiding as ethically suspect and strategically unwholesome: it is neither ‘śarma’ (a true refuge/peace) nor ‘hita’ (real benefit). Even respected elders like Bhīṣma urging restraint cannot justify actions that undermine dharma and worsen conflict.
Arjuna comments on a disputed episode involving goharaṇa (cattle-raiding) and notes that Bhīṣma was entreating someone to desist or act differently, yet the person had already set out on a journey associated with a year-long course (understood in context as exile/long-term consequence), highlighting the futility of late counsel and the moral cost of the act.