Shloka 9
Chapter 59: Baladeva’s Censure, Keśava’s Restraint, and Yudhiṣṭhira’s Moral Accounting
सो<वाप्य वैरस्य परस्य पारं वृकोदर: प्राह शनै: प्रहस्य । युधिष्ठटिरं केशवसृज्जयांश्व धनंजयं माद्रवतीसुतीौ च
so 'vāpy vairasya parasya pāraṃ vṛkodaraḥ prāha śanaiḥ prahasya | yudhiṣṭhiraṃ keśava-sṛñjayāṃś ca dhanañjayaṃ mādravatī-sutau ca ||
Sañjaya disse: Mesmo após alcançar a margem distante daquela inimizade feroz, Vṛkodara (Bhīma) falou—devagar, com um leve sorriso—com Yudhiṣṭhira, com Keśava (Kṛṣṇa), com os Sṛñjayas, com Dhanañjaya (Arjuna) e com os gêmeos filhos de Mādrī (Nakula e Sahadeva).
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights measured speech and self-control after extreme conflict: even when one has ‘crossed beyond’ the height of enmity through victory, one must still speak thoughtfully before elders and allies, mindful of dharma and the moral residue of war.
Sañjaya narrates that Bhīma, having come through the fiercest phase of hostility, addresses the Pāṇḍava leaders and allies—Yudhiṣṭhira, Kṛṣṇa, the Sṛñjayas, Arjuna, and the twins—slowly and with a restrained smile, setting up his ensuing words in the aftermath of battle.