Shloka 15
उद्योगपर्व — अध्याय १४१: कर्ण–कृष्णसंवादः, उत्पात-स्वप्न-लक्षणानि
Karna–Krishna Dialogue: Omens and Dream-Signs
विगाढे शस्त्रसम्पाते परवीररथारुजौ । न तदा भविता त्रेता न कृतं द्वापरं न च
sañjaya uvāca |
vigāḍhe śastra-sampāte paravīra-rathārujau |
na tadā bhavitā tretā na kṛtaṃ dvāparaṃ na ca ||
सञ्जय उवाच—विगाढे शस्त्रसम्पाते परवीररथारुजौ माद्रीपुत्रौ महाबलौ धार्तराष्ट्राणां वाहिनीं क्षोभयन्तौ गजाविव पश्यसि चेत्, तदा न ते कृतं न त्रेता न च द्वापरं मनसि भविष्यति।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses yuga-language to convey that the moral order associated with earlier ages (Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara) will not be felt in the face of all-consuming war; when violence becomes total, ethical clarity and the sense of a righteous age vanish, leaving only the harsh reality of conflict and its consequences.
Sañjaya describes to Dhṛtarāṣṭra the coming intensity of the battlefield: weapons will strike in a dense onslaught, and Nakula and Sahadeva—likened (in the broader passage) to powerful elephants—will agitate and damage the Kaurava forces, shattering enemy chariots; witnessing this, Dhṛtarāṣṭra will feel as though no ‘golden age’ remains before him.