Shloka 16
Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 73 — Kr̥ṣṇa’s Appraisal of Bhīma’s Altered Temper and Reaffirmation of Martial Resolve
सहजकश्नेदिमत्स्यानां प्रवीराणां वृषध्वज: । धारणभश्रन्द्रवत्सानां मुकुटानां विगाहन:
sahajakāś cedi-matsyānāṁ pravīrāṇāṁ vṛṣadhvajaḥ | dhāraṇo bhāśrāndravatsānāṁ mukuṭānāṁ vigāhanaḥ ||
Bhīma disse: “Nas terras de Cedi e Matsya surgiu Sahaja; entre os Pravīras, Vṛṣadhvaja; na (assim chamada) linhagem Cāndravatsa, Dhāraṇa; e entre os Mukuṭas, Vigāhana. Assim, como quando o dharma é subvertido e a ordem do mundo é abalada, forças ferozes e ruinosas se inflamam, do mesmo modo, ao aproximar-se o fim de uma era, kshatriyas degradados aparecem em vários clãs—trazendo discórdia e colapso moral, não proteção.”
भीम उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames ethical decay as a social and political phenomenon: when dharma is disrupted, rulers who should protect society instead become sources of conflict. Genealogical listing is used to mark the spread of such ‘age-ending’ degeneration across many lineages.
Bhīma is speaking within the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war context, invoking examples of notorious or ruinous kṣatriyas said to arise in different clans during times of upheaval, thereby warning of widespread disorder and the consequences of adharma.