Shloka 61
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
सर्वा दिश: सम्पतता रथेन रजोध्वस्तं गाण्डिवेन प्रकृत्तम् । यदा द्रष्टा स्वबलं सम्प्रमूढं तदा पश्चात् तप्स्यति मन्दबुद्धि:
saṃjayā uvāca | sarvā diśaḥ sampatatā rathena rajodhvastaṃ gāṇḍīvena prakṛttam | yadā draṣṭā svabalaṃ sampramūḍhaṃ tadā paścāt tapsyati mandabuddhiḥ |
सञ्जय उवाच—यदा स मन्दबुद्धिः धार्तराष्ट्रः सर्वा दिशः रथेन सम्पततः मया उद्भूतधूलिध्वस्तं स्वबलं, गाण्डीवच्युतैः शरैश्च छिन्नभिन्नं सम्प्रमूढं च पश्यति, तदा स पश्चात् एव तीव्रपश्चात्तापेन तप्स्यते।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
Moral blindness and arrogance lead to ruin; insight that comes only after violence has unfolded becomes mere remorse. The verse highlights the ethical cost of rejecting wise counsel and choosing war.
Sanjaya describes the future battlefield outcome: Dhritarashtra’s son will witness his forces overwhelmed—obscured by dust from the chariot’s swift movement and cut down by arrows from the Gāṇḍīva—leading him to regret afterward.