Mahabharata 3.172.21 — Vana Parva, Adhyaya 172, Shloka 21
Divyāstrāṇāṃ Pradarśana-nivāraṇa
Display of Divine Weapons and Its Prohibition
पितामहेन संहार: प्रजानां विहितो ध्रुवम् । न हि युद्धमिदं युक्तमन्यत्र जगत: क्षयात्
pitāmahena saṃhāraḥ prajānāṃ vihito dhruvam | na hi yuddham idaṃ yuktam anyatra jagataḥ kṣayāt ||
ดูประหนึ่งแน่นอนแล้วว่า ผู้สร้างได้กำหนดการทำลายล้างสรรพชีวิตไว้ในวันนี้ ศึกอันน่าสะพรึงเช่นนี้ย่อมไม่สมควรเกิดขึ้นในกาลใด นอกจากคราวสิ้นสลายแห่งโลกเท่านั้น
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames extreme violence as morally and cosmically abnormal: a war of such terror appears justifiable only at a world-ending dissolution, highlighting the tension between dharma (what is fitting) and a sense of inevitable fate.
Arjuna reacts to the prospect or spectacle of catastrophic conflict, interpreting it as a sign that the Creator (Pitāmaha) has decreed mass destruction; he questions the propriety of such warfare except in an apocalyptic context.
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