Shloka 55
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 47 — Arjuna’s Deterrent Declaration
Sañjaya’s Report
यदा द्रष्टा ज्यामुखाद् बाणसंघान् गाण्डीवमुक्तानापतत: शिताग्रान् । हयान् गजान् वर्मिणश्चाददानां- स्तदा युद्ध धार्तराष्ट्रोडन्वतप्स्यत्
sañjaya uvāca | yadā draṣṭā jyāmukhād bāṇasaṅghān gāṇḍīvamuktān āpatataḥ śitāgrān | hayān gajān varmiṇaś cādadānāṃs tadā yuddhe dhārtarāṣṭro 'nv-atapsyat ||
Sinabi ni Sañjaya: “Kapag nakita niya ang mga bugso ng palasong matutulis, pinakawalan mula sa bagting ng Gāṇḍīva, na rumaragasa pababa—kumikitil sa mga kabayo, elepante, at mga mandirigmang nakabaluti—sa gayon, sa gitna ng labanan, ang anak ni Dhṛtarāṣṭra ay mag-aalab sa pagsisisi.”
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores moral accountability: initiating an unjust war (adharma) brings inevitable consequences, and recognition of wrongdoing often arrives only when suffering becomes undeniable. Power and pride cannot shield one from the ethical weight of one’s choices.
Sañjaya foretells the battlefield scene where Arjuna’s Gāṇḍīva sends down deadly volleys. Seeing his forces—horses, elephants, and armored fighters—cut down, Dhṛtarāṣṭra’s son (Duryodhana) is predicted to be consumed by regret for having set the war in motion.