Shloka 1

Udyoga Parva, Adhyāya 73 — Kr̥ṣṇa’s Appraisal of Bhīma’s Altered Temper and Reaffirmation of Martial Resolve

Devanagari script

अपन बक। ] अत्णशाए<म चतु:ःसप्ततितमो< ध्याय: भीमसेनका शान्तिविषयक प्रस्ताव भीम उवाच यथा यथैव शान्ति: स्यात्‌ कुरूणां मधुसूदन । तथा तथैव भाषेथा मा सम युद्धेन भीषये:,भीमसेन बोले--मधुसूदन! आप कौरवोंके बीचमें वैसी ही बातें कहें, जिससे हमलोगोंमें शान्ति स्थापित हो सके। युद्धकी बात सुनाकर उन्हें भयभीत न कीजियेगा

Transliteration

bhīma uvāca | yathā yathaiva śāntiḥ syāt kurūṇāṃ madhusūdana | tathā tathaiva bhāṣethā mā sma yuddhena bhīṣayeḥ ||

Translation

Bhīma nói: “Hỡi Madhusūdana, xin ngài hãy nói đi nói lại theo cách thực sự đem lại hòa bình giữa dòng Kuru. Hãy nói cho đúng như thế, và đừng làm họ khiếp sợ bằng cách gợi lên viễn cảnh chiến tranh.”

Word by Word

• {'bhīma uvāca': 'Bhima said', 'yathā yathā eva': 'in whatever way

• in the very manner that', 'śāntiḥ': 'peace

• cessation of hostility', 'syāt': 'may be

• might come to be (optative sense)', 'kurūṇām': 'of the Kurus

• of the Kuru people (Kauravas/Pandavas as the Kuru lineage)', 'madhusūdana': 'slayer of Madhu

• epithet of Kṛṣṇa', 'tathā tathā eva': 'in that very way

• accordingly', 'bhāṣethāḥ': 'you should speak (2nd person singular optative/benedictive)', 'mā sma': 'do not (emphatic prohibition)', 'yuddhena': 'by/with war

• by talk of war', 'bhīṣayeḥ': 'you should frighten/terrify (2nd person singular optative)'}

Speaker

भीम उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīma (Bhīmasena)
• Madhusūdana (Kṛṣṇa)
• Kurūḥ (the Kurus/Kuru lineage)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Bhima urges responsible, peace-oriented speech: the envoy should choose words that maximize the chance of reconciliation and avoid needlessly provoking fear or escalation by emphasizing war.

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Udyoga Parva’s pre-war negotiations, Bhima addresses Kṛṣṇa (Madhusūdana), asking him to speak to the Kurus in a manner that can establish peace and not to intimidate them by bringing up war.