Mahabharata — Udyoga Parva, Shloka 72
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
तत्र यो बलवान् कृष्ण जित्वा सो>त्ति तदामिषम् | एवमेव मनुष्येषु विशेषो नास्ति कश्चन
tatra yo balavān kṛṣṇa jitvā so ’tti tad āmiṣam | evam eva manuṣyeṣu viśeṣo nāsti kaścana, śrīkṛṣṇa |
“Doon, O Kṛṣṇa, ang sinumang malakas—pagkatapos magwagi—siya ang kakain ng karne na siyang pinag-agawan nila. Ganyan din sa mga tao: wala talagang tunay na pagkakaiba, O Śrī Kṛṣṇa.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
Yudhiṣṭhira draws a stark moral analogy: in contests driven by appetite and gain, the strong prevail and enjoy the spoils, while claims of higher ‘distinction’ among humans often collapse into the same power-logic. The verse critiques violence and self-interest as governing forces when dharma is ignored.
In the Udyoga Parva, amid tense negotiations before the great war, Yudhiṣṭhira speaks to Kṛṣṇa with a sober, disenchanted observation about how conflicts end: victory goes to the stronger, who then takes the desired prize—here compared to meat fought over—suggesting that human quarrels frequently mirror brute struggle rather than principled conduct.