Shloka 87
Udyoga-parva Adhyāya 71 — Kṣatra-dharma Counsel, Public Legitimacy, and Mobilization
अथ चेत् ते प्रवर्तन्ते मयि किज्चिदसाम्प्रतम् । निर्दहेयं कुरून् सर्वानिति मे धीयते मति:
atha cet te pravartante mayi kiñcid asāmpratam | nirdahēyaṃ kurūn sarvān iti me dhīyate matiḥ ||
اگر وہ میرے ساتھ ذرا سا بھی ناروا برتاؤ کریں، تو میں ان تمام کوروؤں کو جلا کر راکھ کر دوں گا—یہی میرے دل میں اٹھا ہوا پختہ عزم ہے۔
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights the ethical tension between restraint and righteous firmness: even a dharma-minded king can reach a point where persistent injustice provokes a decisive, punitive resolve. It frames anger not as mere impulse but as a boundary set against adharma—though its extremity also warns how quickly moral conflict can escalate toward total destruction.
In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations, Yudhiṣṭhira expresses a hardening stance: if the Kauravas commit even slight impropriety toward him, he is determined to annihilate them. The statement signals the breakdown of conciliation and the nearing inevitability of war.