Shloka 17

Yudhiṣṭhira’s Lament on Kāla and Daiva after Draupadī’s Recovery (आरण्यक पर्व, अध्याय २५७)

Devanagari script

यदा क्रोधहविर्मोक्ता धार्तराष्ट्रेषु पाण्डव: । आगगन्ताहं तदास्मीति वाच्यस्ते स सुयोधन:,धर्मराजकी यह बात सुनकर भीमसेनने दूतसे इस प्रकार कहा--'दूत! तुम राजा दुर्योधनसे जाकर यह कह देना कि सम्राट्‌ धर्मराज युधिष्ठिर तेरह वर्ष बीतनेके पश्चात्‌ उस समय वहाँ पधारेंगे जब कि रणयज्ञमें अस्त्र-शस्त्रोंद्वारा प्रजजलित की हुई रोषान्निमें वे तुम्हारी आहुति देंगे। जब रोषकी आगमें जलते हुए धृतराष्ट्रके पुत्रोंपर पाण्डव अपने क्रोधरूपी घीकी आहुति डालनेको उद्यत होंगे, उस समय मैं (भीमसेन) वहाँ पदार्पण करूँगा”

Transliteration

yadā krodha-havir-moktā dhārtarāṣṭreṣu pāṇḍavaḥ | āgantāhaṃ tadāsmīti vācyas te sa suyodhanaḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana disse: “Dize a Suyodhana por mim: quando os Pāṇḍavas, como ofertantes da oblação da ira, estiverem prontos para derramar sua cólera sobre os filhos de Dhṛtarāṣṭra, então eu virei. E, após completados os treze anos, Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira chegará nesse mesmo momento para, no sacrifício da batalha, entregar-te como oferenda ao incêndio de indignação aceso por armas.”

Word by Word

यदाwhen

क्रोधanger

हविःoblation

मोक्ताone who will pour/offer (release)

धार्तराष्ट्रेषुamong/on the sons of Dhṛtarāṣṭra

पाण्डवःthe Pāṇḍava (Bhīma/Pāṇḍava)

आगन्ताone who will come

अहम्I

तदाthen

अस्मिI am

इतिthus (quotative)

वाच्यःto be told/should be said

तेto you

सःhe/that

सुयोधनःSuyodhana (Duryodhana)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Pāṇḍava(s)

Dhārtarāṣṭra(s) / Kaurava(s)

Suyodhana (Duryodhana)

Bhīmasena (implied as the ‘I’ in the message)

Dharmarāja Yudhiṣṭhira (from the cited narrative context)

Messenger (dūta, from the cited narrative context)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse uses yajña (sacrifice) imagery to express moral causality: persistent adharma and refusal to make amends lead to unavoidable, destructive consequences. Wrath becomes the ‘oblation,’ and war the ‘ritual,’ underscoring that violence is not celebrated but presented as the grim outcome of ethical failure.

What is happening in the narrative?

A messenger is being instructed to warn Suyodhana (Duryodhana) that after the exile term is completed, the Pāṇḍavas will return for confrontation. The speaker (contextually Bhīma) declares he will appear precisely when the Pāṇḍavas are ready to ‘pour’ their wrath upon the Kauravas—foreshadowing the coming war.