अध्याय ८ — शल्यस्य सत्कारः, वरदानं, पाण्डवसमागमश्च (Śalya’s Reception, the Boon, and Meeting the Pāṇḍavas)
दुःखस्यैतस्य महतो धार्तराष्ट्रकृतस्य वै । अवाप्स्यसि सुखं राजन् हत्वा शत्रून् परंतप
duḥkhasyaitasya mahato dhārtarāṣṭrakṛtasya vai | avāpsyasi sukhaṃ rājan hatvā śatrūn paraṃtapa ||
Sinabi ni Vaiśampāyana: “O hari, tagasunog ng mga kaaway—pagkatapos ng malaking pagdurusang ito na idinulot ng mga Dhārtarāṣṭra, sa wakas ay makakamtan mo ang ginhawa, matapos mapuksa ang iyong mga kaaway.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse frames suffering as having a moral cause (wrongdoing by the Dhārtarāṣṭras) and presents the restoration of well-being as linked to righteous kṣatriya action—ending oppression through decisive confrontation. It reflects the epic’s tension between the tragedy of war and the demand for justice.
Vaiśampāyana, narrating the events, addresses a king as “paraṃtapa,” predicting that the great distress inflicted by the Dhārtarāṣṭras will culminate in the king’s eventual happiness—after defeating and killing his enemies in the coming conflict.