Shloka 26
Adhyaya 60: Self-Assertion, Daiva, and the Rhetoric of Inevitability (उद्योग पर्व)
सरित: सागरं प्राप्य यथा नश्यन्ति सर्वश: । तथैव ते विनड्क्ष्यन्ति मामासाद्य सहान्वया:,'जैसे नदियाँ समुद्रमें मिलकर सब प्रकारसे अपना अस्तित्व खो बैठती हैं, उसी प्रकार वे पाण्डव आदि योद्धा मेरे पास आनेपर अपने कुल-परिवारसहित नष्ट हो जायँगे
saritaḥ sāgaraṁ prāpya yathā naśyanti sarvaśaḥ | tathaiva te vinaṅkṣyanti mām āsādya sahānvayāḥ ||
وَیشَمپایَن نے کہا— جس طرح ندیاں سمندر تک پہنچ کر ہر طرح سے اپنی جداگانہ ہستی کھو دیتی ہیں، اسی طرح وہ سب—میرے پاس آ کر—اپنے پورے خاندان اور نسل سمیت ہلاک ہو جائیں گے۔
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse uses a natural simile to express total loss of separate existence: as rivers merge into the ocean, so those who confront an overwhelmingly powerful force are said to meet complete ruin, even extending to their lineage—highlighting the ethical danger of arrogance and the rhetoric of annihilation in the lead-up to war.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations and escalating hostility, a speaker (reported by Vaiśampāyana) conveys a boastful or threatening claim: that the opposing warriors (implicitly the Pāṇḍava side, as reflected in the received Hindi gloss) will be destroyed upon approaching ‘me,’ along with their families and line.