Mahabharata 4.47.9 — Virata Parva, Adhyaya 47, Shloka 9
कालविभाग-निरूपणं तथा युद्धव्यवस्था
Time-Reckoning and Mobilization Counsel
“हमलोग मत्स्यदेशके उत्तरगोष्ठकी खोज करते हुए यहाँ आये और मत्स्यदेशीय सैनिकोंके साथ ही युद्ध करना चाहते थे। इस दशामें भी यदि अर्जुन हमसे युद्ध करने आया है, तो हम किसका अपराध कर रहे हैं? ।।
vaishampāyana uvāca |
trigartānāṃ vayaṃ hetor matsyān yoddhum ihāgatāḥ |
matsyānāṃ viprakārāṃs te bahūn asmān akīrtayan ||
Vaiśampāyana nói: “Chúng ta đến đây, vừa dò tìm trại bò phía bắc của xứ Matsya, vừa muốn giao chiến với quân Matsya. Trong tình thế ấy, nếu Arjuna đến đánh chúng ta, thì chúng ta đang phạm tội với ai? Chúng ta đến đây để đánh người Matsya vì cớ người Trigarta. Chính họ đã kể cho chúng ta nghe nhiều chuyện áp bức và điều trái mà người Matsya đã gây ra cho họ.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights how warfare is often morally framed through claimed causes—here, intervention is justified as aid to allies and as response to alleged oppression. It invites reflection on the ethics of acting on second-hand reports and on how motives (hetu) are presented to legitimize conflict.
In the Virāṭa episode, forces aligned with the Trigartas come to fight the Matsyas. The speaker explains that their arrival is not for personal gain but to support the Trigartas, who had described many wrongs committed by the Matsyas, thereby providing a rationale for the impending battle.
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